The Haunting
by OuranHero
Summary: Levi moves into a perfect new house. It's a nice size, the neighbors are wonderful, and it's even close to Levi's only friends. The only problem? A spirit named Eren Yeager lives there and won't leave Levi alone. Levi learns to accept his presence and even enjoy it. But if he comes to love this spirit, what will happen? Eren's dead. That's that. Right?
1. Levi buys a haunted house

**Finally got around to transferring this. I'll try to do at least a chapter a day, yeah?**

All Levi wanted was a new house. A place to stay after moving out of his parent's shitty apartment. He just wanted a nice house that wasn't too big and that wasn't too small in a neighborhood that wasn't too shitty. That was all he really wanted.

Too fucking bad, right?

No, the house was fine. After he cleaned it, of course. The neighborhood was lovely, and many of his new neighbors had greeted him kindly. It wasn't too big and it wasn't too small, and it was much better than his parent's shitty apartment. It was even close to Erwin and Hanji's house, even though Levi would never admit that was a good thing out loud. No, almost everything was perfect.

On move in day after he unpacked and after a few of his new neighbors stopped by to say hello, he sat down on his couch and sighed. He would have to calculate the fastest way to work from here. Without bothering to turn on the TV, Levi sank deep into thought, thinking about debt and time and cleanliness.

Soon after, when he was scanning his kitchen, he noticed something odd.

"The hell?" he asked himself. Maybe no one else would have noticed it, but Levi did. His cleaning supplies had moved about three inches to the left from where he left them on the table. He decided to call Hanji and tell her about it, because honestly, he was bored.

"It's the Faceless Old Woman who Secretly Lives in Your Home." she said with mock seriousness. She was really into Welcome to Night Vale around then.

"Shut the fuck up." said Levi.

"No, I'll look your house up on the internet. Maybe it's haunted." said Hanji happily. Levi could hear the keys clicking away from the other end. Calling Hanji had been a mistake. He should have just ignored it and gone to Subway or some shit.

"Leeevi, Levi!" Hanji started cooing on the other end.

"What?" he asked, leaning against the wall. He never sat back down after getting up to inspect his cleaning supplies, and he certainly didn't want to sit down now that he was standing. He might not get back up.

"It says in this article that a boy died there. It doesn't say how, but his name was... Eren Yeager. You're being haunted, Levi!" Hanji squealed with glee.

"I'm hanging up." said Levi, pressing the end call button on his phone. So someone had died here, huh? Not that it mattered. Levi didn't believe in such stupid things. He watched TV until around ten, when he went to bed. He snuggled under the sheets and checked his phone before falling asleep.

When he woke up the next morning, his phone was on his nightstand. He was sure he had fallen asleep with the phone beside him. He sighed and got up, checking his phone sleepily. He was probably just letting Hanji get to him, that shitty glasses. He got up, did his usual morning routine, and set out to work.

He worked in an office, with Hanji and Erwin, sadly. He also worked with Petra and Oluo and a few other people he could actually stand. He worked through the morning, filing papers and attempting not to commit mass homicide. During break time, he sat with Hanji, Erwin, Oluo, and Petra.

"Get a load of this," said Hanji excitedly, "Levi's house is haunted!"

"Dumb piece of shit." said Levi, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Have you been seeing ghosts?" asked Petra. The concern in her voice may or may not have been fake. You never knew with Petra.

"Of course he hasn't!" Oluo said. "Levi doesn't belie-"

Oluo stopped as he bit his tongue, crying out in pain. Levi and the others simply ignored him. Oluo bit his tongue almost daily, anyway.

"What makes you think his house is haunted?" asked Petra as if Oluo had never spoken.

"Someone died there!" Hanji said happily, sounding like she was floating through air. "A twenty-year-old boy named Eren Yeager. He died under mysterious circumstances."

"Fucking fuck." Levi mumbled. No one was listening to him. Everyone's attention was focused on Hanji.

"What kind of circumstances?" asked Oluo, having recovered from biting his tongue. He was speaking with a slight lisp as he tried no to use his tongue too much.

"I don't know!" cackled Hanji. She was grinning like a maniac. People around them were starting to stare. Not that she didn't act like this every single goddamn day.

Levi didn't believe in this bullshit. Nope. Not one little bit.

Even as he thought that, he couldn't help but be observant as he moved around his house. Watching his coffee mug closely, his laptop, his TV, anything that could be moved, he watched. Nothing moved that day. Or the next. Levi felt a growing uneasiness as the days went by. Maybe he was just letting shit glasses get to him too much. He should have never listened to her. All she did was make him feel nervous for three days about absolutely nothing.

On the third day, when Levi was almost completely calm and all of his anxiety had finally left him, it all came rushing back when he saw a figure in his doorway. He shot straight up, his eyes widening and his pulse quickening. The form did not go away. Instead, it got more and more defined as the seconds ticked. Meanwhile, Levi felt like he was about to pass out.

There was a person in his doorway. A person who was taking shape very quickly.

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck f-_

"Hi," said the figure in a surprisingly pleasant voice. "I'm Eren Yeager. It's nice to meet you."


	2. In Which Levi Thinks Its a Dream

Levi said nothing. The young man who had materialized in his doorway fidgeted nervously and scratched the back of his head. Finally, Levi spoke.

"I must be dreaming." he said incredulously. There was no other plausible explanation. No way was there an actual ghost in his house. That was something only a child would believe.

"You're not." said Eren simply. He took a step forward, and Levi's breath caught in his throat. Eren knew he was going to scream and braced himself.

But Levi didn't scream. His pride wouldn't let him. Instead, he suppressed the urge and said in a slightly trembling voice, "What the hell?"

"I'm Eren Yeager." Eren repeated. "I died here. You... you're going to have to live with me."

Levi couldn't believe it. He pinched the skin on his arm, the sharp pain almost making him gasp. But when he looked up, Eren was still there. His outline was starting to get smoky, and Eren knew it. Levi was having a hard time wrapping his mind around this. The boy was taller than Levi, that much he knew. He had a mop of brown hair and green, almost turquoise eyes. His face wasn't unpleasant to look at. He was wearing a long sleeved green shirt and loose jeans.

Levi stood up and slowly made his way over to Eren. He lifted his hands and tried to push Eren. His hands went right through him, and a sudden chill overtook his body. Eren sighed and shook his head. At least Levi wasn't screaming and waking up the neighbors.

"Why are you here?" asked Levi, the tremble in his voice all but gone. "Why? Ghosts aren't real. This is a dream. It's a fucking dream."

"I..." Eren concentrated, going fuzzy for a second. "I died here. I can't leave. I can't... I died... Mikasa..."

Suddenly, Eren's body shook with sobs. Levi stared. He was dreaming about a ghost. Hanji had really gotten to him enough to make him dream about ghosts. While he was dreaming, he might as well ask questions.

"Why did you move my things?" Levi blurted. It suddenly felt rude to ignore the fact that Eren was crying, but Eren welcomed the distraction.

"Well," he said, sniffling and wiping his tears on his sleeves, "I wanted you to know I was here. It worked, didn't it?"

"And why did you want me to know you were there?" asked Levi slowly. While this was a dream, and Levi was certain of the fact, he couldn't help his growing curiosity.

"So you didn't accidentally sit on me or something." said Eren. "I mean, I'm pretty new to this whole ghost thing."

"When did you die?" asked Levi. He knew he was getting into dangerous waters here, but Eren still looked calm.

"A few months ago." he said. Eren was visibly stiff, probably anticipating Levi's next question. But Levi knew that if he asked Eren how he died, Eren would most likely get mad.

"Why are you here?" asked Levi. He didn't know much about ghosts, being an unbeliever.

"I think it's because I have unfinished business," said Eren, "At least, that's what I read when I was alive. When you came here, you must have disturbed my spirit or some shit because you woke me up. I was dying, and the next thing I knew, I woke up to you clomping around the house in boots and gloves. I couldn't touch anything. Mikasa... she's gone. She doesn't live here anymore."

Levi took a few moments to think about this. So he had woken up Eren's spirit? Hypothetically speaking, of course, because Eren was dead and he was dreaming. Of course. Ghosts didn't exist. This was just a dream. Just. A. Dream.

"When you started panicking and became suspicious, I don't know, but I guess my power grew. You give off very strong vibes. What's your name?" Eren asked, smiling. Levi was taken aback for a moment at how _alive_ Eren looked.

"Levi," he said before thinking. Fuck!

"Levi," Eren said, trying it out. Levi would never admit that he liked the way it sounded when he said it.

"Hey, you said you can't touch things," said Levi, "But you still moved all of my cleaning supplies?"

"I don't touch them," said Eren slowly, as if recalling the memory, "I saw them on the table and I wanted to let you know I was there, so I reached out, but they moved away from me. For some reason, it doesn't happen to things I wasn't thinking about moving in the first place."

"Weird." said Levi.

"I'm getting weaker now, Levi." said Eren, a sad tone in his voice. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Levi woke up the next morning with a vague idea of what he had dreamed about that night. He knew it was a dream, but it just felt so real. Oh, well. Sometimes dreams felt real when the weren't real at all.<p>

When Levi did his daily routine, he noticed that all of the mugs in his cabinet had been moved onto the counter.

_"I wanted you to know I was here." _

Levi shook the thought out of his head, grabbing all of his mugs except one and putting them all back into the cabinet where they belonged. He may have just forgotten. But when he walked back into the kitchen after drinking his coffee in the living room while watching the morning news, they were all back on the counter again.

_"It worked, didn't it?"_

Oh, it worked all right.

Levi decided to keep quiet about his dream. Hanji would obviously flip her shit if she heard and tell him that it wasn't a dream and that he had actually seen a dead man. She would be wrong, of course, but that wouldn't stop her from saying it.

"So how's the haunting going?" asked Hanji conversationally when he sat down. Levi rolled his eyes.

"Nothing happened last night either, Hanji." said Levi in monotone. "Stop asking."

"Aw, but that was my only source of joy for the week." Hanji pouted.

"Get over it." said Levi. He brought his water bottle up to his lips.

Hanji and Petra began talking about some obscure topic while Oluo, Erwin, and Levi listened. Erwin never spoke much while they were all together, but he sure was noisy when it was just him, Levi, and Hanji. Oluo was gazing at Petra so intensely that it was a wonder his eyes didn't burn holes in her head. It was even more of a wonder that she didn't notice.

Or maybe she did, and she just chose to ignore it.

The rest of the day went by in a blur of paperwork and homicidal thoughts until Levi finally went home. When he got there, he found his couch flipped upside down. He sighed, thinking back on his dream the previous night. Maybe...

No. He shook the thought out of his head and flipped the couch back where it was supposed to be. It must have been unbalanced or something.

Nothing else happened before he went to bed. He ate dinner, showered, and read half a book without being disturbed. But right after Levi put on his Pj's, Eren materialized beside him. Levi stifled a yelp and jumped in the opposite direction.

"Did I startle you?" asked Eren with an amused smile.

"No," Levi said, obviously lying. Eren chuckled.

"Do you still think it was a dream?" asked Eren with a soft smile, cocking his head to the side. "Last night, that is."

Levi stared. Was it a dream? He didn't believe in ghosts. Not at all. They were only children's stories, like Bloody Mary. But here was Eren, standing right in front of him. The outline of his body was misty. Levi reached out and, sure enough, his hand passed right through Eren's stomach.

"I don't know." said Levi honestly.

"It's OK." Eren let out a bitter laugh, "I wouldn't believe me, either. I would think I was going insane, actually."

Levi nodded. "I'm not insane, right?"

"No," Eren said with a small shake of his head. "Hey, I'm going to let you think this through. I'll come back later."

"Can I ask you a question, first?" asked Levi.

"Sure." said Eren. He was starting to dim, so Levi spoke quickly.

"Have you ever seen me shower?" he blurted. Eren let out a surprised laugh.

"No," Eren giggled, trying to contain his laughter. Levi scowled.

"Shithead," said Levi, "It's a good question."

"Yeah," said Eren, still giggling. Eren started to flicker.

"One more thing," Levi said. Eren nodded, but he was obviously tired. "When is later?"


	3. Hanji - AKA Shitstain

**Thank you so much for all of the follows and favorites! I really appreciate them. I'm still working on my other fic, don't worry, I've just had a very rough few weeks.**

The day after that was Levi's day off. After he woke up around ten, he stayed in bed and thought about Eren. Was he real? Was Levi going insane? Ghosts didn't exist. They couldn't. But if that was true, then why did Eren seem so real? Even if Levi was going insane, he was starting to think Eren was real. Ghost or not, Levi thought that Eren's presence was absolute.

Eren existed. That was all he had to believe.

Levi got up when he heard a sound in his kitchen. He stood up slowly, his heart thumping, wondering if someone had broken in. He sneaked toward the room silently and peeked in through the doorway.

Eren was standing on his table, a thoughtful look on his face. His feet were not touching the table, so he was hovering. It was strange. Levi knew Eren could touch the floor, but he couldn't touch a table? Not even with his feet?

"Oi!" Levi shouted to get Eren's attention. Eren's head snapped up and a smile found it's way to his lips. Levi wanted to smile back. He didn't, however, choosing instead to keep his expression neutral.

"Good morning, Levi." he said, as if standing on the table was a perfectly normal thing to do. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept fine." said Levi. "Why are you standing on my table?"

"I was wondering if I could fly." said Eren. He sounded like a child when he said it. Like when children pretend to fly when jumping off swings, only to stumble and scratch their knees.

"So you stood on my table." said Levi, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes?" Eren smiled sheepishly. "I'm not getting anything on the table. I'm not touching it."

Levi had indeed noticed that Eren was not touching the table. But he still couldn't condone standing on a table to see if you could fly, even if you were whatever Eren was.

Eren took a deep breath and jumped off the table without knocking anything over. Levi tensed, hoping that Eren wouldn't land on him. He doubted Eren could fly. Sure enough, Eren fell onto the ground with a surprisingly loud thud and a groan of pain.

"You OK?" asked Levi, taking a step closer. Eren stood up.

"Yeah," he said, "I didn't think I would be able to feel pain. Weird."

"This is some fucked up shit." agreed Levi. "This whole 'ghost' thing is really inconsistent."

The silence that followed could be easily described as uncomfortable. Levi stared at Eren while Eren nervously shifted from foot to foot. Finally, after a few minutes, Eren spoke.

"Have you made up your mind?" asked Eren nervously. His voice was quiet. "About me."

"Yes," Levi sighed, walking into his kitchen to make his daily coffee. Eren hadn't moved anything. "I decided that even though I do not believe in ghosts, I do believe that you exist. You are here. That's that."

Eren smiled widely with relief. Levi was taken aback for a second before he pulled himself together and got out a mug. Eren hummed and watched Levi as he made his coffee. Levi couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed. When Levi was done making his coffee, he sat down on his couch to watch the news. Eren walked over and stood next to the couch, a thoughtful look on his face.

"I wonder if I can sit down?" he said, cocking his head to the side. He was a bit transparent now.

"I wonder," said Levi in monotone. Eren hummed and walked over so he stood next to where Levi was sitting. He took a deep breath, similar to what he had done before jumping off the table, and sat down.

He fell through the couch. His head was sticking up out of one of the cushions, so it looked like Levi had cut someone's head off and placed it next to him on the couch to enjoy TV with him. Levi tried to suppress his laugh at Eren's bewildered expression, he really did. The laughter came bubbling up and Levi laughed out loud. Eren looked up at him, startled. Then, Eren smiled.

"What?" asked Levi, suddenly self-conscious.

"This is the first time you've laughed since you moved here!" said Eren happily before he disappeared entirely.

Levi stared at where Eren used to be. That kid had actually managed to make him laugh. The only other person who managed to do that was...

"Leeevi!" came a singsong voice from his front door. He sat up straight and twisted his body so he could see into the hallway that lead to his front door. There stood Hanji, a set of keys in one hand and a bag pf groceries in the other. She waved the keys around happily.

"Look what I found outside!" she said happily. She must have found his spare keys. Levi sighed and stood up.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, walking over to her.

"I wanted to see the haunted house." said Hanji, inviting herself in. She dropped her coat and her groceries in the floor, making Levi cringe. He picked them up and put them in the proper places. The coat on the coat hanger, and the groceries on his table.

"Hmm," Hanji spun around, "This place doesn't look haunted."

There was a disappointed tone to her voice that made Levi almost smug. Now, if Eren would just not show up for the duration of Hanji's visit...

As if on cue, Eren appeared beside Levi. Hanji's eyes went wide and Levi sighed. Eren disappeared for three days before, but he couldn't help but take shape twice in the same day when he had company. Hanji began jumping from one foot to the other either in fright or excitement, Levi couldn't tell which. Eren looked startled, his eyes wide. He glanced at Levi as if to ask whether he should leave.

"Eren, this is Hanji, my..." Levi searched his mind for the right word. "Friend."

Eren smiled at Hanji weakly. He might have stuck out his hand if he wasn't dead.

"And Hanji, this is Eren." Levi said in a defeated voice.

"You just materialized out of nowhere! Eren Yeager, the boy who died here!" Hanji screeched, still jumping. "You- Levi!" she turned her attention to Levi.

"What?" asked Levi, his mood considerably worse than before.

"I didn't think this place was actually haunted!" she said, trying to calm her hopping and failing. "Why aren't you more surprised? I thought you didn't believe in spirits."

"I don't," said Levi, earning a sad look from Eren. "But I believe Eren exists, and that's that."

Eren looked conflicted about this, but he didn't say anything. He was more concerned with the terrified(?) woman standing in front of him, finally beginning to stop her relentless hopping.

"Can I touch you?" asked Hanji, her voice almost in a whisper. After seeing Eren's expression, she almost laughed. "On your shoulder."

After a moment's hesitation, Eren nodded. Hanji reached out and attempted to place her hand on Eren's shoulder. It went right through her. Hanji shivered and stepped back. She stared at Eren for a second before grinning widely.

"Hi, Eren!" she said enthusiastically. "I'm Hanji, Levi's best friend!"

"Hi, Hanji." said Eren with an easy smile. "I'm Eren, Levi's housemate."

Levi sighed and rubbed his temples. Hanji was one of the most childish people Levi knew, and now that she was with Eren, who was also unbelievably childish, this would be nothing short of a nightmare.

"Uh, Levi?" Hanji asked after a few minute's chatter with Eren. "Does Eren usually do this?"

Eren was staring into nothing with a terrified look on his face. Levi walked over quickly, feeling a sudden concern for Eren.

"Eren?" Levi asked cautiously. Eren continued to stare and Levi's concern increased.

"Eren-" Levi was cut off with a bloodcurdling scream ripping itself from Eren's mouth as Eren was thrown to the floor by something Levi couldn't see.

"Eren!"


	4. Death Loop

Levi wasn't sure who had yelled. Eren was writhing on the floor, groaning in pain. It looked like something was attacking him, but Levi couldn't see what it was.

"No!" Eren tried to get away from whatever it was. "Dad-"

Dad? What did his dad have to do with it? Eren gasped and squirmed on the floor. Spots of blood appeared on Eren's arm, right where a doctor might take blood. The facts immediately clicked in Levi's head.

Eren's breathing became labored. He stopped shouting and started to whimper, curling up into a ball. His body shook with spasms. He coughed, throwing up on the floor beside him.

"What-" Eren asked weakly, a coughing fit stopping him from continuing. "What did you-?"

Eren gasped for breath. He grabbed at his throat, clawing at it, needing to breathe. His bodily functions were beginning to stop. He was panicking. His eyes grew wide in fear, and a few tears fell out of them before his body grew still.

Levi stared. Eren just reenacted his death.

Hanji was freaking out, looking something up on Google on her phone. Levi crouched down closer to Eren's still form.

"Eren?" he asked quietly. "Are you OK?"

Eren was still. Hanji was furiously scrolling on her phone.

"It says that spirits who died violent deaths will reenact them." she said, looking both scared and fascinated, scrolling through an article faster than she should be capable of reading. Suddenly, Eren sat straight up. He looked at Levi, then Hanji, a bewildered look on his face.

"Why do you two look so scared?" asked Eren curiously. Levi froze. He looked scared? Impossible. He should have had his usual poker face on by now.

"I saw a spider." said Hanji quickly, laughing and putting her phone away.

"Levi's afraid of spiders?" Eren snickered, covering his mouth with his hands so Levi wouldn't see.

"No," said Levi, feigning embarrassment. Eren didn't remember. It was probably for the best.

Eren held back his giggles. Levi remembered he was sitting on the floor and stood up, wiping the dust off his pants in disgust. He would have to clean the house again soon. He checked his watch. It was 11:43. Hanji could stay for lunch, then he would clean the house.

"What do you want for lunch, Hanji?" asked Levi.

"What do you have?" replied Hanji, her voice still shaking. In response, Levi walked into his kitchen. Hanji and Eren followed. Levi noticed that Hanji was keeping a bit of distance between her and Eren and hoped that Eren wouldn't notice. It didn't seem like he had noticed yet.

"Spaghetti, sandwiches, ramen, ravioli-" Levi listed the things he could make while looking through his cabinets.

"Ravioli!" Hanji said suddenly. "That's you! Let's have ravioli."

"Ravioli is Levi?" asked Eren, confused. Levi could see Hanji beginning to light up again, moving closer to Eren once more.

"Don't you dare," Levi warned.

"What?" asked Eren, looking from Hanji to Levi and then back again.

"You see, when we were younger, Levi used to like to spell his name like R-i-v-i-a-l-l-e. But it was very hard to pronounce when you spelled it like that, and people used to read it as Ravioli. Even teachers called him that." Hanji was trying to suppress her laughter and failing miserably. Levi glanced at Eren. To his surprise, he wasn't laughing. As a matter of fact, Eren looked serious.

"That sounds like it sucked." said Eren solemnly.

"Uh- Yeah," Levi stuttered, mentally cursing himself._ Stop stuttering, moron,_ he chided himself.

Levi got out some Chef Boyardee, not wanting to go through the process of making actual ravioli. Hanji sighed and Levi ignored her. Hanji got started chatting with Eren. Levi was glad she wasn't letting the whole "Loop of Death" thing get her down.

After he gave Hanji some ravioli and forced her to leave, he got to cleaning. Eren was still there, hovering, watching him work. Levi only felt a little self-conscious, focusing instead on getting those pesky flecks of dust off the windowsill. After a while, Levi noticed Eren beginning to flit about aimlessly, picking things up (or the Eren equivalent of picking things up) and putting them back down. Finally, after an hour or so, Eren disappeared, leaving Levi to work alone in peace. The temperature in the room rose a few degrees at his absence.

Levi finished working, making sure he got every crevice twice before throwing his gloves away and washing his hands. By then it was around three, so Levi picked out a movie to watch and sat down on his newly clean couch. After a half hour, Eren materialized once again.

"_Princess Bride_?" he asked. "Nice."

"That's three times in one day," said Levi.

"Yeah, I don't know." Eren seemed nervous. "I, uh, I'm bored, is all."

Eren's voice cracked when he spoke. Levi heard it, but said nothing. Eren tried to sit down on the couch next to Levi like he had done earlier that day, but this time he stayed put.

"This ghost thing you've got going on is really inconsistent." Levi observed. "The result of poor writing skills, no doubt."

"What?" asked Eren. He turned his head to look at Levi and his concentration vanished. He fell through the couch. Levi laughed.

"I thought ghosts were supposed to be graceful?"

Eren smiled. "I thought so too."

They watched the rest of the movie, Eren on the floor and Levi on the couch. They talked a little, Levi made himself dinner, and then they watched another movie.

"You should go to bed." said Eren. It was eleven by then.

"Whatever." Levi muttered. He walked to his room and closed the door, not bothering to change his clothes before he fell onto his bed and fell asleep almost instantly for the first time in his life.

Eren remained outside his door. He sat down on the floor and let out a shuttering breath. He wouldn't cry. Not until he knew Levi couldn't hear him. Then, he let out a choked sob. He probably sounded ghastly, doing what ghosts did in horror movies.

It was Armin's birthday. Armin was probably having fun with Mikasa and Jean-biscuit and everyone else. But he probably felt like there was something missing. Eren had been friends with Armin for as long as he could remember. He never wanted Armin or Mikasa to grieve for him.

Of course, he wasn't being self-absorbed. He wasn't just assuming that Mikasa and Armin were grieving, or had been. He had heard them. When he was dying, he heard them, crying, calling Grisha Yeager a monster. He had wanted to cry, too.

But now he was stuck here. He was here with Levi, and he would have to get used to not feeling things and not being able to eat or drink. He could deal with it. Even though he would never tell Levi about any of this sadness, he still found comfort in the grouchy man's presence. So Eren could get used to it.


	5. Boredom

Eren was bored.

Levi was at work. It had been a few weeks since Eren met Hanji, and now Eren was finding himself waking up more and more often. Once or twice a day, to be exact. It probably had something to do with Levi, but he would ignore that thought. But sometimes Levi wasn't there when Eren woke up, and he had to spend his ghostly time alone.

Now was one of those times. Eren wandered through the house, wondering if he should flip something over or something to let Levi know he had woken up that day. Over the past week, Levi had started getting angry with Eren when he didn't tell Levi when he woke up. It made Eren wonder, but he wouldn't assume anything. We all know what happens when we assume.

Eren considered writing a note._ I woke up today so please don't yell at me tomorrow. Love, Eren._

No.

Something like that would be ridiculously mundane. He wanted to act like the ghost he was. Memories flashed across his brain when he thought this, memories of a needle and the life draining out of him. Memories a bottle. Memories of a limp body and life support, and a figure looming over him, speaking in a panicked voice.

His head started hurting and he quickly shooed the thoughts away. He didn't want to think about that. Not right now. Maybe someday he would allow the memories to resurface, find out the mysteries of his own death, but he wasn't ready. Maybe, with Levi...

Eren strolled over to Levi's couch, then stopped himself. He had already flipped Levi's couch over once. He walked around, realizing that in the short two weeks he had been there he had touched (loosely speaking) everything in the house. Maybe a note would be best.

Deciding against it, Eren made his way over to Levi's movie collection when he heard the door rattling. He quickly made himself invisible, a little trick he had taught himself in one of his long days of boredom. Maybe Levi was home early. Maybe Hanji had come to visit him.

When the door opened, Eren saw neither of them. There were two people Eren didn't know, one male and the other female. They looked shifty and nervous, like they were expecting an alarm to go off. Eren decided he could have some fun with this.

"Just search the house," said the man. His voice was deep. "Let's get out of here as fast as we can."

"This was your idea," hissed the girl. "'Mary, we're broke!' you said, 'Let's rob a goddamn house.'" her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Just hurry," the man sounded exasperated.

Eren moved closer to them. The girl, presumably Mary, shivered when Eren got closer. He would be lying if he said he wasn't angry, but he _had_ wanted something to do. He stayed invisible, watching them walk around the house and pick things up. Then, he knocked the TV remote off the couch. It fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"What was that?" asked the man, looking around wildly.

"It was just the remote." Mary said, but Eren could hear a tremor in her voice.

Eren picked up a chair next. Mary and her partner just stared at it while Eren put it back down upside down. They were both shaking, and hard. Eren hoped they wouldn't get a heart attack or anything, especially considering what he was about to do next.

He materialized slowly in front of them. Their mouths hung open. Eren smiled, his gaze venomous. He stood over them, watching as rivulets of sweat fell down their faces.

"What are you doing here?" he purred, moving closer. Mary opened her mouth to scream, and Eren clamped a hand over her mouth. Miraculously, it stayed.

"No, we can't have that," Eren tsked. The man looked like he was about to piss himself.

"Now, promise me you'll leave?" Eren used his most frightening voice, surprised at how scary he actually sounded. Mary nodded.

"Good. Never come back." When he let go, they both raced toward the door. He got there faster, standing in front of it and blocking their path. By now the man had indeed pissed himself. Eren could see the large wet stain by the man's crotch and suppressed a giggle.

And then he almost punched himself. What the hell was wrong with him, enjoying something cruel like this? Nevertheless, he spoke again.

"No one will ever hear of this, right?" he asked, his voice like velvet. They nodded furiously and Eren stepped out of the way. They bolted out of the door, obviously trying to keep from screaming. Once Eren knew they were far enough away, he cracked up laughing.

"That was fun," he said through his laughter. Once he stopped laughing, he sighed and looked around the room. Mary and her friend had trashed the place.

"Looks like I'm going to have to clean up," said Eren, bending down to start picking things up. "Levi would throw a fit if he knew about this."

Eren cringed at he thought of angry Levi and began cleaning up.

* * *

><p>When Levi got home, all of his chairs were flipped upside down. He sighed, happy that Eren was finally telling him when he "woke up" as Eren put it.<p>

He just wished Eren would write a note. _Dear Levi, I woke up today, so don't worry that I've disappeared forever, love Eren._

Was that really too much to ask?

Levi didn't know whether or not Eren was still reenacting his death. Presumably, it would happen at the same time every day. But Levi was at work then, so there was no way he would be able to know until his next day off, which was in two days.

He took off his tie and slumped onto his couch. After a few minutes, he decided to call out.

"Eren," he called. He wondered if Eren would appear if he called loud enough. Eren appeared beside him a few minutes later, looking a bit tired and slightly transparent. But he smiled his bright smile anyway.

"What is it, Levi?" he asked, sitting down on the floor next to the couch. After the day he met Hanji, Eren had stopped attempting to sit on the couch, coming to the sad realization that he may never be able to sit on a couch again.

Levi honestly didn't know what he wanted. Eren's company? Couldn't be. No way did he want the company of some... _brat_.

"Tell me about your life before you died," said Levi. He didn't know where that came from.

"Uh, sure?" Eren laughed a little, but it sounded forced.

"I had a sister, Mikasa," he began.

_Hasn't he said her name before?_ Levi mused.

"She wasn't really my sister. She was my adopted sister. Her parents were killed. I..." Eren trailed off, as if deciding something. Then, he spoke again. "And I had a friend named Armin. He just had a birthday last week. He was smart, way smarter than me. He also had a boyfriend. His name was Jean. Jean-biscuit, and..."

Eren kept talking and Levi listened attentively without making any comments. It turned out that Eren had a lot of friends before he died, and that he used to be an art student. After Eren had been talking for an hour, Levi decided to speak up.

"Do you..." He said, stopping Eren mid-sentence.

"Do I what?" asked Eren, smiling at Levi with that infuriatingly bright smile.

"Never mind." Levi stood up and put on his coat. "I'm going to McDonald's. Don't kill anybody."

Eren watched him leave. He had never expected Levi to ask about his past. No way was he going to tell Levi about killing three people. Not yet, anyway. He could tell Levi was holding something back too, by the way his face looked earlier.

* * *

><p>Levi ran into Erwin at McDonald's, of all places.<p>

"Levi!" Erwin greeted. "I didn't know you ate here."

"I didn't know you ate here, either," Levi huffed. He was carrying his twenty-piece chicken nuggets like they were his only child.

"Actually, Hanji wanted to meet me here." said Erwin. "We're going to the bar tonight."

"And she wanted to meet you at a McDonald's." Levi said. Sure, Hanji was a bit insane, but this...

"Yeah, it's a place I've never been so I need her to show me and she refused to give me directions, so she's going to drive me there from here. Are you interested in coming? I'm sure she'd be delighted." Erwin got out his phone expectantly. Levi looked at his bag of chicken nuggets and sighed.

"Fine." he was worried about whether or not Eren would be worried, but it had been so long since he had a nice drink.

Eren wouldn't get very worried. He knew that Levi had friends that he might run into at a McDonald's and go out drinking with. Right?

No, and Levi knew this, but he was going to go anyway.


	6. Time and Chicken Nuggets

**This chapter has some self-destructive thoughts, so if you're triggered really badly by self-harm stuff, maybe skip this one? I'm not sure if it's really bad, but it's better safe than sorry.**

Eren paced back and forth, glancing anxiously at the door from time to time. Where was Levi? He said he was going out for McDonald's. But it had been an hour and Eren was pretty sure that trip should have taken about fifteen minutes, maybe twenty.

So yeah, maybe he was a little worried. Not about Levi's safety, of course. He was worried about what would happen to the house and how Eren wouldn't have anything to do and how Hanji would be sad-

OK, fine. He was fucking worried about Levi. Who gives a shit?

He leaned backward and allowed his weight to fall, cushioning himself with a little puff of ghost power before he landed on the floor. That was something Eren had taught himself to do. When he finally perfected it, he had eagerly shown Levi who replied with a shrug of his shoulders and a "Not bad."

Eren rolled over and stared at the perfectly clean floor beneath the couch. He wondered if he would ever be able to sit on the couch. Or anything other than the floor, really. He missed warmth. He even missed the cold. He just missed feeling things other than pain.

It was a sad existence, to be honest. The only thing he could actually feel was pain. No heat, no chills, not soft, or scratchy. Just pain, like when he fell or ran into something. And sometimes he would do it on purpose, just to feel something. He would get up on a chair and jump just so he could feel something other than numbness.

But he had Levi. Eren might not have been able to feel heat, but sometimes he felt warmer inside when he was with Levi. It was probably human interaction. Eren was fairly sure it released a chemical of some sort. His father was a doctor, so he should know.

God, now he was getting depressing. He got up and walked over to the door. He wondered if he could leave. He opened the door slowly, as if it might shock him if he opened it too quickly. Nothing happened. The door was open.

Eren went to take a step, but as soon as his foot hit the ground outside he felt a strong pain in his chest and let out a muffled scream. He stumbled back and fell onto the floor.

Maybe he would just take a nap and wait for Levi to get home.

* * *

><p>"How do you manage to hold your cup like that all the time?" asked Erwin, his words slurring together. He was drunk after only a few drinks.<p>

"Suck my dick," replied Levi, who drank his beer while he was talking and still managed to articulate well.

"I guess I'm driving them home," sighed Hanji, who was the only sober one there, even though going out for drinks had been her idea in the first place. "Hmm, but getting them both home will be a problem."

"Why's that?" asked Erwin, hiccuping a little.

"Cars." Hanji muttered.

"Don't even bother," Levi swirled his beer as if it were wine, "Commander Dipshit here's too wasted to understand."

"I know." Hanji sighed. Her night of drinking was ruined.

Truthfully, it was going to be ruined to begin with, but she had hoped Erwin wouldn't drink so much so that he could be the one to drive her home for once.

After Hanji decided that Levi and Erwin had enough and was completely annoyed by the shit that was coming out of their mouths, she cut them off and herded them into her car.

"Jesus Christ," Hanji turned to look at the two wasted men in her back seat. "What are we going to do with your car, Levi?"

"Beats me." Levi huffed and looked out the window. Hanji felt something inside of her snap and forced herself to keep calm.

"I'll pick it up in the morning or something. I'll figure it out." Hanji began the drive to Levi's house, because Levi was the worst drunk Hanji knew, He was an angry drunk. She almost felt sorry for Eren, but he would be able to handle it, that was for sure. Besides, Levi couldn't hit Eren.

She dropped Levi off and sped away. Levi stumbled to his door and shoved it open. He almost fell flat onto his face, saving himself at the last moment. The loud noises woke Eren up and he blinked back into existence.

"Levi!" Eren felt relief wash over him. Then he got a better look at Levi. "Are you drunk?"

"No," said Levi defensively. Eren took that to mean yes, Levi was plastered.

"Uh, maybe you should go to bed." said Eren helpfully, moving behind Levi and urging him forward with little gusts of cold.

"Stop that!" Levi swatted at Eren's hands. His hands went right through Eren's, causing a chill to go up his spine.

"Fuck, Eren," he hissed, "That's cold."

"That's how I always am?" Eren forced a laugh. Levi needed to get to bed. Eren would also leave some water and aspirin by his bedside for the morning, but he would deal with that later.

"It's fucking cold." Levi wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.

"You'll be warm if you go to bed." said Eren persuasively. Levi glared at him. Levi then stumbled toward his room. When Eren came close, he scowled and swiped at Eren's now misty figure. It was just getting colder. When he finally reached his bed, he collapsed onto it and buried himself under the covers.

"Eren," Levi yelled, his voice muffled by the blankets.

"Yes, Levi?" Eren was at his side almost immediately. Levi found himself wondering how Eren managed that.

"I'm going to have a hangover tomorrow." Levi stated.

"Yes." Eren said with sympathy, looking down at Levi like a mother would look at a sick child. He had one eyebrow raised and a sympathetic smile, and he reminded Levi strongly of his mother back in France.

"Je ne veux pas," Levi groaned, flopping onto his side so he was facing away from Eren.

"What?" Eren asked, cocking his head to the side. "I didn't know you spoke French, Levi."

A moment passed before Levi answered in which Levi painstakingly turned toward Eren, the full feeling of the alcohol hitting him and making him sleepy.

"I don't want to," Levi translated, "Je suis nique."

Eren nodded, still uncomprehending, and watched as Levi's breathing slowed. He began to dissipate until he heard Levi's voice.

"Eren," he whispered. His voice was rougher than usual.

"What is it?" asked Eren quietly. He was tired.

"Tell me a story." Levi said. His voice was muffled by his pillow.

"OK," Eren searched his brain for a story to tell. "Um, once, I was hiking in the woods with Armin and Mikasa, and Jean-Biscuit was there too. He was hitting on both Mikasa and Armin, and they were both pretty pissed about it. This was before Armin and Jean were dating. Anyway, while we were hiking we found a treasure map.

"Armin didn't want to do it, of course, and neither did Mikasa. Jean and I convinced them it was a good idea and we went out in search of the treasure chest. We were pretty sure we had gotten lost after a while until Jean had to go take a piss and he found a valley of sorts with a waterfall in it.

"That was pretty close to where the X was on the map, so we went down there, and-" Eren stopped when he heard a soft snore. Levi was asleep. He sighed and let himself dissolve into nothing, thankful for the short respite.

"Fucking hell," Levi groaned when he woke up, downing the water and aspirin Eren left on his bedside table.

Why he let Erwin convince him to go out drinking, he might never know. And he didn't even get the opportunity to eat his chicken nuggets.

What a waste, he thought as he ran into the bathroom to avoid getting sick on his bed. A goddamn waste of time and chicken nuggets.


	7. On Armin and Mikasa

"Someone bought the house." Mikasa said over the phone. On the other end of the line, Armin let his breath hiss out of his teeth.

"Do you want to go see it before it's too late to come by without seeming weird?" asked Armin. He was sitting on a bench, watching Jean, Connie, and Sasha play basketball in an outdoor court.

Mikasa's response was delayed as she thought through the emotions she would feel upon entering the house. She would be sad, for sure, and even more sad, and she would feel a bit of melancholy...

"Yeah," she whispered, her voice so quiet Armin could barely hear it over the noise his friends were making.

"Okay. We'll go this Saturday." Armin promised, smiling a little even though he knew she couldn't see him. Going back after all that time was sure to break both of them mentally.

Armin hung up his phone and leaned back on the bench. Jean was sweating like a pig and Sasha looked like a demon. Connie seemed to have given up and was leaning against the fence surrounding the court.

Armin wasn't surprised that the house had been bought. It was a nice two-bedroom house with a large kitchen and a small dining room, and a living room off to the side. It also had three bathrooms. It was a very good house for a newlywed couple or a college student.

Jean turned around and grinned at Armin, waving at him like a maniac. Armin smiled and waved back. Sasha took the opportunity to throw the basketball at Jean's head. While Armin was sure that could cause some serious damage, he wasn't going to say anything. He was just going to let them have their fun.

Maybe he should have some fun before he had to go back to that godforsaken house. That house held so many bad memories. For Mikasa, it must have been even worse, considering she was the one who had lived there.

Flashes of a tall man dragging a limp body, memories of tears and waiting and sitting in a cold, damp basement to make sure no one died ran through his mind.

Maybe Armin would play after all.

* * *

><p>On Saturday, Armin and Mikasa arrived at the house around ten. They assumed the person who lived there would be there at that time, but they could only hope.<p>

Mikasa knocked on the door, her hand shaking as she did so. Armin set a reassuring hand on her arm. The door opened and a small, grumpy looking man wearing loose pajamas was revealed. His eyes were bloodshot, like he was hungover. Now that Armin had a good look at him, he probably was hung over.

"Hello," Armin greeted him nervously. "We used to live here, and we would like to see the house one more time, before it's gone?"

"Whatever," the man huffed and let them in.

It was weird seeing the house again after so long. For one, the man had changed the furniture. The house looked cleaner than Armin had ever seen it. Mikasa kept silent, her face hidden by the scarf Eren had given her long ago when Grisha adopted her.

"Let me ask you something," the grumpy short man yawned and sat down on the couch, motioning for Armin and Mikasa to do the same.

"Go ahead." Armin nodded, since Mikasa clearly wasn't in the mood to speak. She looked somber, if Armin had to pick a word to describe it.

It wasn't like being back at the house didn't give Armin those weird feelings and slight panic, but he was probably coping better than Mikasa. Or maybe not.

"If you wanted to come back so badly, then why didn't you do it in the two months this house was on sale?" the man raised and eyebrow. He looked mildly interested, but mostly hung over and tired. He did have some pretty dark circles under his eyes.

"Trauma." Mikasa spoke quietly, her voice almost inaudible. But the man heard her. He leaned in. his interest piqued.

"And you two are?" he asked, smiling. He looked creepy when he smiled.

"Mikasa." Mikasa said, pulling her scarf down past her mouth so her words would be clear. "Mikasa and Armin."

"I'm Levi," Levi held out his hand, the smile erased from his face and replaced by a blank stare. "Nice to meet you."

"Same for you, sir." Armin said quickly, reaching out to take his hand. He shook it, then Mikasa did the same.

The room was silent for a moment after that. Levi had a look of poorly concealed concentration on his face. Armin looked around the room while Mikasa glared at Levi.

"So, if you don't mind my asking," Levi said, "What is this trauma? You don't have to answer me, of course."

"I want to." Mikasa said quietly. Armin looked at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Armin asked incredulously. He would never have expected Mikasa to tell a stranger about the events that came to pass two months ago.

"Yes," she looked at Levi steadily. "I had a brother. His name was Eren. His mother and father adopted me when my parents died. Carla, his mom, died of an illness a few years after they adopted me. Grisha, his father, was never the same after that. He was unstable, and he would spent countless hours in his basement doing god knows what."

"Armin and I spent most of our free time with Eren. For years, we were the only pleasant company he had. I would spend long nights awake with him in our room, kept awake by the weird sounds coming from the basement. For years and years this continued, until one day, Grisha spoke to us."

"'I have completed it,' he said. 'I've done it. The secret to-'"

Mikasa stopped suddenly, her mouth agape. Armin saw a flash of panic in Levi's eyes before he heard a familiar voice. A very, very familiar voice.

"Hey, Levi, how's your hang ov-" the voice stopped with a sharp intake of breath.

Armin swiveled his head so fast he might have gotten whiplash. There stood Eren, gaping like a fish. Mikasa's expression turned from surprise to anger as she tackled Levi. Eren yelped and Armin just stared, sure that he was going to pass out at any time.

"What the hell kind of joke is this, bastard?" Mikasa hissed, her voice deadly.

"Mikasa!" Eren yelled. Tears were falling down his face. Mikasa faltered for a second.

"It's not a joke." said Levi slowly. "Just let me explain-"

"Fuck you." said Mikasa in a low voice. "The first time I've talked about it in years, other to my fucking therapist, and you throw it back in my face-"

Armin jumped up and pulled Mikasa off Levi. To his surprise, she complied easily. Her breathing was labored and tears threatened to spill.

"Mikasa, think for a second." Armin said, his voice coming out harsher than h intended. "Levi didn't know we were coming. He didn't know what happened. And sure, he might have known about Eren, but how would he make a hologram of him? And why would he go through the trouble? For a giggle?"

Mikasa's breathing slowed. She looked at Eren for a long time before approaching him. She reached out, but her hand passed through him.

"Eren?" she asked, her voice wavering.

"Yeah," Eren smiled at her sadly. The tears finally fell from her eyes and she fell onto the floor, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes in an attempt to stop them.

"But, how..." Mikasa said through sobs. Armin did not cry. He knew it was out of character for him, but his tears had dried up long ago. He thought Mikasa's had, too.

Levi explained what had happened to them without revealing any emotions. They listened attentively, Mikasa making sure Eren was at her side every few minutes. Armin noticed her giving Levi odd looks as well.

When he was done, Mikasa and Armin nodded in understanding. It was weird, for sure, but Armin was able to put together what had happened that night. Now he understood. But did anyone else? Did Eren?

"Eren, do you remember what happened?" Armin asked, surprised when his voice cracked.

"A little bit," Eren admitted. "But my head starts hurting when i try and I don't want to. I know it's some PTSD inducing shit."

"That it is." Armin nodded. "Do you remember what Grisha did?"

At the mention of his name, Mikasa tightened her hold on the couch and Eren's hand subconsciously went to his neck. Levi watched with mild interest.

"A little bit." Eren repeated, his voice more forceful this time.

"Calm down." said Mikasa quietly. Eren hadn't realized he was shaking. Or that the lights had begun to flicker. But as soon as Mikasa spoke, it stopped. Armin noted this in the back of his mind for later reference.

Armin, Mikasa, and Eren talked, shed some tears, and caught up. Mikasa asked about the hung over midget and Armin slipped questions about Grisha into his speech. All in all, it was a very teary and heartfelt reunion.

"We should leave now," said Armin when he realized that were there for five hours. "Sorry we stayed so long."

"No I understand." Levi said, glancing at Eren. His eyes flickered with something. Fondness, maybe. Whatever it was, it didn't escape Mikasa. She checked to make sure Eren wouldn't hear her before she said anything about it.

"Levi," she said in her low and deadly voice.

"What?" Levi asked, not even bothering to hide his annoyance.

"How do you feel about my brother?" she asked. Her expression did not change. Neither did Levi's. He didn't answer, choosing instead to glare at her.

"Does it matter?" he asked defensively. Mikasa smirked at his tone. Oh, she was mad all right. But mostly amused. And a little sad.

"No." she turned around in a very self-assured way. Levi raised his eyebrow at her as she left.

When they were out the door, Armin began worrying about Mikasa's mental health. And his own, for that matter. What the _hell?_ It was only a little bit possible that Eren might be alive. Just a bit. He turned toward Mikasa. She was grinning like a lunatic, her eyes sparkling. She looked at Armin excitedly.

"Armin, if his soul didn't die that night, that means his body might still be alive!" she hugged her scarf closer to her.

That was the scarf Eren gave her the night her parents died. The night she was kidnapped and he killed two people for her. And the night she killed the third. She could see it all happening, the night she lost her family and gained a new one in the span of a few hours.

It was improbable, yes. If Eren's soul lived through being smashed against the floor, maybe his body was alive. It would take some time for Eren to regain his memories at the pace he was going, yes, but once they got into that basement, they would know for sure.

Eren could be saved.


	8. Remember Us

**This chapter gets slightly NSFWish, but not really. The song used is _Remember Us _by Gabriel Royal. Thanks a lot for all of the reviews, favs/follows, etc. They all help brighten my day!**

After Mikasa and Armin left, Eren slowly moved his gaze from the door to Levi, expecting the worst. Instead of the onslaught of questions and complaints he was expecting, what he got was:

"I'm hungry."

Eren was startled, to say the least. After all the things Levi had just heard, he was just going to talk about how hungry he was? Eren smiled at Levi. Maybe he knew Eren didn't want to talk about anything like that.

Levi walked into the kitchen to make himself a meal and Eren followed.

"Have you showered yet, Levi?" asked Eren.

"I don't even remember," Levi said honestly, "Hangovers are a bitch."

Eren nodded in agreement. He watched Levi walk around the kitchen to make himself what looked like pasta. Spaghetti, maybe. After a little while Eren got bored and did the thing where he wanders around the house while making himself invisible. Levi could still hear him, but he couldn't see him. The only way he knew where Eren was located was the sound of light humming.

"What's that song?" asked Levi. He was cleaning up after grating some cheese.

"_'Remember Us'_ by Gabriel Royal," said Eren absentmindedly. Levi groaned.

"Is Hanji having you listen to that weird Night Vale thing with her?" he asked. _Remember Us_ was the "weather" or whatever on one of the episodes.

"It's not bad." Eren smiled. Levi scowled.

After Levi ate, and Eren watched him eat, talking, Levi decided he needed a shower. Because it didn't matter whether or not he had a shower that morning, he wanted to make sure. He needed to make sure. He checked the time. He wanted know he wasn't going to miss the moment when Eren had his little loop of death thing.

Inside the shower, Levi could still hear Eren. He had started singing, probably assuming Levi couldn't hear him.

_"My mother told me be careful don't think with your heart,"_

Eren had a nice voice. Levi listened attentively while he lathered shampoo into his hair.

_"But just like a fool I followed all of the lights to the sparks," _

Levi didn't know why, but Eren's soft singing made him feel... warm. It was strange. He wasn't used to it. He wasn't the type of person who felt warm at someone else's voice. What the hell?

_"It goes over and over again,"_

Levi washed the shampoo out, watching it go down the drain. _Get a hold of yourself._

_"'Til we find our way back, did you really have to even ask?"_

_Not! Literally!_ Levi scolded himself and focused on showering. Clean. Scrub. One. Two. Three.

_"No I don't remember us falling in love,"_

No way could someone's voice turn him on. No way. And definitely not someone who was dead.

_"But I'm sure that it happened,"_

Nope. Nope. Not even a little. Levi ignored the growing heat in his lower half and focused on showering. Clean. Clean. Scrub. Get rid of the filth. Clean. He rubbed conditioner into his scalp, considering showering in cold water to get rid of his arising "problem".

_"No I don't remember us falling in love,"_

It didn't matter that Levi thought Eren was a little cute. And a little attractive. He was stupid and dumb and probably unsanitary.

_"This sort of thing is old fashioned,"_

Levi was not this type of person. Developing a crush? No. He wouldn't. It was probably because he hadn't gotten laid in a while. Yes, that was it. That was all. No crush. Certainly not on a dead boy. Certainly not on Eren. No.

_"I know this, I know,"_

Levi was a bitter little man who made poop jokes, and that was the sad truth. Even if he was attracted to the brat, there was no way he would like him back. And he wasn't attracted to the damn piece of shit he called a house mate. Not one little bit. Levi turned the water to cold and gasped a little at the sudden change, but was quickly rid of his "problem".

_"I don't know."_

Eren's singing stopped as Levi stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his lower half, tying it securely at his waist and silently cursing himself for forgetting to bring his clothes into the bathroom with him. He stepped out of the bathroom, his hair still dripping. Eren turned to him happily before he noticed the lack of clothes.

"Uh, why are you naked?" asked Eren meekly. Levi was sure that if Eren had blood in his system that was still running through his veins, he would be blushing.

"I forgot to bring clothes into the bathroom with me," Levi sighed, "And it _is_ my house."

"Right," Eren looked away. Levi smirked and walked to his room, his malfunction earlier all but forgotten. That is, until his towel slipped. And fell to the floor. Oh boy.

"Oh my god!" shrieked Eren, covering his eyes and disappearing, Levi's eyes widened and he quickly pulled the towel back up, but it was too late. Yells of "Jesus! No!" could be heard echoing throughout the house, one here, one there, as if Eren was running around in embarrassment. Levi wasn't sure if he was mortified or proud.

As Eren calmed down, Levi was finishing getting dressed. Eren appeared in front of him, looking sheepish.

"Sorry," he mumbled, turning transparent in an attempt to disappear.

"How much did you see?" asked Levi casually, even though there was a storm brewing inside him.

In response Eren became even less visible and looked away, whimpering. _Oh. _

"It's fine, Eren," Levi sighed. "You're not the first one to see me naked."

Eren covered his face and crouched down. Levi couldn't help but smile. The brat was this embarrassed after seeing a little bit of dick? He was probably a virgin.

After that, Eren disappeared. Levi went about his normal day off, watching TV, reading, cleaning where he saw fit. He really didn't think it was that big of a deal that Eren saw him naked. Eren probably just hadn't seen one of his friends naked before. Yeah.

As it approached five, Eren materialized next to Levi, the events from earlier all but forgotten. He kept Levi company, and they sat down to watch_ Frozen_. Right when Elsa started singing "Let it Go", Levi noticed Eren acting strange. He checked the clock. It was time.

A soon as he thought that, a scream ripped from Eren's mouth. Levi tried his hardest not to be concerned. He watched tensely as Eren thrashed on the floor, screaming, until those drops of blood appeared on his arm. The tears fell, and he was still once more.

Levi let out a relieved breath, glad it was over. But Eren still wasn't moving. How long had it taken last time? Not this long. Levi's thoughts were interrupted when Eren's body began to move. Not in a way any body was capable of doing on it's own. He looked like he was being dragged somewhere.

Levi followed as Eren's body slid across the floor. It stopped near the end of his hall and stayed for a few seconds before falling through the ground. Levi walked over to the spot Eren went through and stomped on it. It was just floorboards, like the rest of the hall. There was nothing there. Where was Eren?

Levi got down on his knees, glad he had cleaned there not too long ago. He peered at the wood. It was just normal wood. It wasn't a trap door or anything, like Levi thought it might be. No hidden staircase. Levi got up and walked back into the living room.

He didn't play the movie. He was going to wait until Eren came back. Because Eren would wake up and get angry with him if he watched the movie without him.

* * *

><p>Eren woke up in a basement. Or, what he assumed to be a basement. It looked more like an illegal science lab where someone might brew meth or some shit.<p>

"Levi?" he called. His voice echoed throughout the room. He got up and looked around.

There were bottles with glowing lights in them of various colors. There were bottles with pickled body parts in them and half full test tubes and needles everywhere. Eren shuddered.

His gaze drifted toward a room. It smelled like a hospital. Eren could hear beeps and the sounds of machines coming from the direction of the room. He started toward it, but stopped when he felt a piercing pain in his chest. He clutched at his chest and backed away, hoping it would ease the pain. It did. He looked around again.

"I wonder if there's a staircase or something," he muttered, "Or maybe I can teleport to Levi? Can I do that?"

As Eren mumbled to himself, he ran straight into a flight of stairs. He stumbled over the first step and almost hit his face on the third, but he caught himself before that could happen. Eren got up, hoping that he wouldn't fall through the steps in this endeavor, and walked up the steps. Each step he took was slow, of course, but when he made it to the top of the stairs, there was nothing but roof.

Eren sighed and stuck his hand up, wondering if he could just float through the roof or something. To his surprise, his hand went straight through. The rest of Eren's body followed suit.

At the top of the "stairs", he found an empty hallway. Well, not completely empty. He could see Levi's room as well as he guest room.

"Where's Levi?" Eren asked himself. He walked out to the living room, even though his little adventure had made him incredibly exhausting and all he wanted to do was stop existing for a few hours, which was something he could actually do now that he was a ghost.

There sat Levi, his eyes shut, on the couch, probably napping. _Frozen_ was still paused. Eren felt a rush of warmth in his chest and smiled fondly. He took the couch cushion next to Levi, careful not to wake him up, and propped it up on the other side of the couch. Hopefully that would let Levi know he was okay.

Eren let himself vanish, singing a few lines before he left the world of existence. Hey, that song was pretty catchy.

_"I know this, I know, I don't know."_


	9. Never Have I Ever

**Tw for minor self destructive themes, hurt/comfort stuff from here on out, etc.**

A few days later, Hanji and Erwin followed Levi home.

"Stop following me, shit glasses," Levi hissed.

"But Erwin's following you too!" Hanji complained. In reality, she was dragging Erwin along against his will. Levi glanced back at Erwin. He didn't know about Eren yet. How would he react? Not well, most likely. Having Erwin there would make Levi feel a little bit nervous, to say the least.

When they got to Levi's house, he reluctantly unlocked the door. Or, he would have. It was already unlocked. Levi might have panicked if he didn't have a ghostly roommate that was most likely to blame. He opened the door to find Armin, Mikasa, and Eren sitting in his living room and talking.

"Oi, shitty brats," he said on a low, menacing tone, standing over them threateningly, "The hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!" Armin jumped up and clapped his hands together apologetically. "We just- you know, uh..."

"We wanted to see Eren," said Mikasa, shooting a challenging glare at Levi, "We thought he was dead for two months."

Levi considered this. While they did think that Eren was dead for a while, they still came to his house uninvited. On the other hand, so did Hanji and Erwin. And Eren did seem immensely happy to see them again.

"Fine," Levi sighed reluctantly , "Whatever. I don't care anymore."

"Who are these people?" asked Erwin from in the door frame. Shit.

"Uh, friends." said Levi quickly before Hanji could say anything. Erwin had a completely irrational fear of spirits.

"Hello, Levi's friends." said Erwin politely.

"Mikasa, Armin, and Eren," said Levi, pointing to eat one in turn, "Hanji, Erwin."

"Nice to meet you!" Hanji smiled and shook Mikasa and Armin's hands. Her eyes flashed for a second. She knew they were probably related to Eren in some way, or were otherwise important to him. Levi wasn't one to make new friends.

Luckily, it looked like Eren had caught on to what Levi was doing. He just had to avoid touching anybody. Easy as pie. Probably.

They all settled into the living room and there was a long silence. Mikasa had taken the seat next to Eren and for no other reason than to make Mikasa mad, Levi took the seat on the other side. No other reason, honestly. Hanji sat down next to Armin, who sat down next to Mikasa, and Erwin sat down next to her. In the end, they were in a sort of circle in Levi's living room, having dragged chairs into the room to sit on from the kitchen.

"Let's play a game." said Hanji. "A get to know you game, with all of our new friends."

"Goddammit Hanji, I'm not playing some shitty get to know you game," said Levi, unconsciously leaning toward Eren, who was in turn leaning toward him. Mikasa shot him daggers.

"I'd love to play." said Mikasa pointedly, smirking at Levi smugly as she said it. Now it was Levi's turn to glare. Armin glanced from Mikasa to Levi, then to Hanji, and back again. Something was going trough Hanji's mind. She had a plan. He could see it.

"I want to play," he said, wanting to know what Hanji had in store. She smiled at him gratefully.

"All in favor, say I!" Hanji yelled.

"I," said four of the voices in the room.

"You've been outnumbered," Hanji stuck her tongue out at Levi and Erwin, the only two who didn't want to play. "We're playing Never Have I Ever, but without drinking. Raise your hand if you've done what they say. Anybody who lies defaults to a penalty game."

"Christ," Levi looked away, a pained expression on his face. What the _hell_ was that shitty four eyes doing?

"What kind of penalty game?" asked Armin fearfully. Hanji didn't seem like the type to play around with penalties.

"You probably don't want to know." said Erwin solemnly. Levi nodded, equally serious. Armin cast a fearful glance at Hanji.

"I'll go first." Hanji smiled. "Never have I ever read 50 Shades of Grey." Hanji raised her hand, along with a sheepish Armin. Eren snickered.

"I was curious," Armin said defensively, turning red.

"It's your turn, Erwin." prompted Hanji. Erwin looked almost as pained as Levi.

"Never have I ever..." Erwin paused, thinking hard. "Never have I ever... uh... been made fun of because of my eyebrows?"

Hanji burst out laughing as Erwin raised his hand with a very serious look on his face. He was the only one who raised his hand.

"Good job, Erwin," Hanji giggled, "Now it's Levi's turn."

"Never have I ever wanted to kill Hanji." said Levi with a murderous gaze. He raised his hand along with Erwin and Eren.

"Even you, Eren?" Hanji pouted teasingly. "I'm hurt."

Eren smiled guiltily. "Never have I ever... gotten into a fight."

Eren, Levi, Erwin, and Mikasa raised their hands. Armin and Hanji exchanged glances. Armin was beginning to catch on to what she was doing. He just had to figure out what kind of statement Hanji wanted him to say.

"Never have I ever lost someone important." said Mikasa, beginning to understand what was happening. Everyone raised their hands. It did not escape Mikasa's notice that Levi was giving Hanji dirty looks, as if he had also caught on to what she was doing.

"Never have I ever," Armin glanced at Hanji quickly before continuing, "Been in a gang."

Now Levi was practically radiating anger as he raised his hand, along with Erwin and Hanji, who was smiling. It was not a happy smile. Eren tried to conceal his surprise. The topics were getting heavy, and quick.

"Never have I ever killed someone," said Hanji confidently.

Eren felt a pang of fear in his chest as he slowly raised his hand. Mikasa and Levi followed suit. Levi looked at Mikasa's hand wearily before seeing Eren's raised hand. Shock registered on his face as Erwin continued and the three of them put their hands down.

"Never have I ever wanted to get the fuck out of here," said Erwin, still sounding as serious as he had before. Levi and Erwin raised their hands. Eren, however, was intrigued.

"Never have I ever felt lost," said Levi, caving in a little. Everybody raised their gave Levi a betrayed look and Levi shrugged.

"Never have I ever lost control of myself," Eren said, raising his own hand and quickly looking from Levi to Hanji. Levi and Hanji both raised their hands, as if responding to Eren's quick looks.

"Never have I ever wanted to die," said Armin. He did not raise his hand. To Armin's surprise, Hanji did, still smiling that unhappy smile. So did Eren and Levi.

"Never have I ever died," Hanji stared at Eren.

Eren, however, did not raise his hand. He knew he should. He was dead, right? But something inside him was telling him that he wasn't dead, that he was still alive. It wasn't possible, but he could feel it. He could feel the impossible fact that he was, indeed, alive.

Everyone in the room was staring at Eren, including Erwin. He had noticed everyone else staring at Eren and followed suit.

"Why would you ask such a stupid question?" asked Erwin, forcing a laugh. "Of course no one here is dead. There's no such thing as spirits."

No one replied to Erwin. Levi expected Hanji to force Eren into a penalty game, but she didn't. Instead, she had her hands folded by her chin, and was clearly thinking hard. There was practically steam coming out of her ears.

"Well, that was fun!" she exclaimed suddenly, jumping up from her seat. "Time to go home!"

"Right," Armin stood up too, and dragged Mikasa out the door after a quick goodbye with Eren.

"Levi, why did she ask that question?" asked Erwin nervously, "Ghosts don't exist."

Levi didn't reply. Eren walked over to stand by him. They were both clearly bothered by the results of the game, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Either way, it was nice to meet you, Eren," Erwin held out his hand for a handshake. Eren panicked. He couldn't touch things!

He reached out a shaking hand, hoping that he would be able to shake it without any malfunctions. Much to Eren's releif, his hand remained solid throughout the handshake. Erwin left with a little bow.

"Was it really necessary to ask that question?" asked Erwin after they were outside. "You know I hate that kind of thing."

"I was just curious," Hanji looked back at the house before walking off. She had some research to do.


	10. I Killed a Man Once

Levi glanced at Eren, and Eren at Levi, both quickly looking away. It was probably time for a few explanations, but where to start?

"I think..." Eren started, "I think we need to talk."

"Yeah," agreed Levi. He nodded a few times and walked over to the couch. Eren sat on the floor.

"So, do you want me to begin, or...?" Eren asked awkwardly.

"No, I'll go first." said Levi, shaking his head slightly, and taking a deep breath.

"Well, as you found out earlier, I was in a gang. I was caught up in some shit, Eren. My life wasn't good. I was failing school, my mom couldn't afford to feed us, and my dad was off god knows where. I had to do some bad things.

"I resorted to stealing and accepting money from the other gang members. Erwin was one of them. That's how we met. Hanji, she was Erwin's friend. She was studying to become a doctor. I just did some really bad things. Things I don't want to talk about. Erwin has done his fair share of things, too.

"I never went to jail. I was never caught. My 'partners', if that's what you would call them, got caught all the time. They were stupid. I wasn't stupid, Eren, I just made some bad decisions. I guess you could call that being stupid if you want, though. The only one in that gang I actually got along with was Erwin, but everyone else tolerated me because of my skill. I'm not trying to brag.

"One day... one day they took it too far. They beat a man half to death, and I told them to stop. They didn't, of course, until the man was within an inch of his life. I didn't even know why they were doing that, the beating. I didn't care. One of them shoved a knife in my hand and told me to kill him. I didn't want to, Eren, I swear. They threatened to kill me. I know what you must be thinking. 'He killed that poor man!', right?

"No. I turned around and killed _them_. I was sick of it. Sick of putting up with their shit. By the time I came to, I was surrounded with dead bodies of my 'comrades' and covered in their blood. And you know what? I didn't regret it. Honestly, I still don't regret it. You must think I'm a monster. Erwin found me soon after, still frozen in that position, standing there in a defensive stance with a bloodied knife in my hand.

"He told me we should run away before the police found out. I wiped out all traces of my presence there, my footprints, anything. I took the knife with me. In the end, it wasn't even reported on the news. Honestly, I think they were glad o get rid of them. I don't know if they cared who did it. Who knows, maybe they did. I expected them to report it, to have some mass scandal about which gang killed them, but there weren't any rival gangs in the area. That doesn't mean it would stop them. I still don't know why. I've always had a suspicion it was Erwin, somehow."

Levi finished speaking, refusing to make eye contact with Eren. He knew Eren thought he was a monster now. He didn't even regret what he did. He felt no remorse. Who could like someone like that? Levi found himself wanting to cry.

To Levi's surprise, Eren didn't throw accusations at him. He didn't comfort him, either. He just began his truth, Levi was relieved.

"My dad, he was a doctor. Officially, he was a doctor. He dabbled in science in the basement. Not the kind of science you would want to know about. My mom was a stay at home mom because she was ill. She used to own a flower shop, actually. We had to sell it.

"One day, he was called to someone's house because they couldn't afford to go to the hospital. They were family friends, so he promised to go to their house for cheap. When we got there, their dead bodies were lying there on the floor. And their daughter was missing. Dad said something about human trafficking, I think. I don't remember all that much of what he said. I was eight. I didn't pay attention.

"He told me to wait while he called the police. But it didn't want to just stand there while someone's life was at stake. So I took a knife and I walked into the woods, hoping to find them. It was sheer luck that I did. I didn't just go into the first house I saw, you know. I looked into the window. I saw her on the floor and I saw the three men she was with.

"I knocked on the door. One of them opened it and told me to get lost. In return, I stabbed him. Not the best greeting, I suppose. I stabbed him a few more times, and he died. I walked into the house and i killed the other guy too. And when I walked over to untie the girl, the third guy attacked me and tried to strangle me to death. The girl killed him.

"Afterwards, Dad found us and told me not to do anything like that again. I gave the girl my scarf because she looked cold and asked her what her name was. 'Mikasa,' she said."

Levi thought Eren's story was over, and started to say something about how they were both fucked up, but Eren continued.

"My mom died a few years later. Dad went insane and started spending all of his time in the basement. He kept saying something about eternal life, whenever I would actually see him. Mikasa and Armin were my only company. Dad stopped buying things for us, so Armin and Mikasa brought me food from their houses.

"And then, one day, I finally saw my Dad again. The day I was leaving my house for my new apartment, actually. Mikasa and Armin were there to came up the stairs, nearly all skin and bones, and he said-"

Eren stopped abruptly, looking downward. Upon closer examination, he was shaking.

"Hey, Eren..." Levi reached out a hand, but pulled it back, knowing he couldn't touch him. No matter what, he wouldn't ever be able to touch Eren, huh? That thought brought him sadness.

Suddenly, the lights started flickering. Levi stared at Eren, wide-eyed, as his house began to shake. The lights flickered on and off, and it was like there was wind blowing all around Eren. His hair was whipping around his face. Levi braced himself.

"Eren!" he shouted, but Eren did not respond. He had ot stop this little shit, and quickly. And then his door burst open.

"Sorry, Levi, looks like I left my-" Erwin's voice trailed off and his jaw dropped. The flickering and shaking stopped and Eren looked at Erwin, startled.

"What is this?" asked Erwin in a shaking voice. "What- Is this a prank?"

Erwin laughed uneasily. Levi looked at Eren, who looked like he was going to disappear any second. As if they weren't in enough shit as it was.

"No, Erwin, what did you forget?" asked Levi, keeping an eye on Eren. He would say what he wanted to say later.

"I forgot my-" Erwin started, but turned to Eren just as he disappeared. His eyes went wide and Levi felt a pang of panic in his chest.

"Erwin-" Levi said in a soothing voice, but Erwin stumbled back and bolted out of the house, leaving Levi standing there, shocked and mildly concerned. Who knew what Erwin would do now.

And as for Eren...

Levi looked back at the room. He would have never expected something like that from Eren. The Eren he knew was nice, and calming, and cheerful, as well as cute and-

No, no, no. That wouldn't do. He couldn't be falling for a ghost. No, he was just tired and needed some sleep. He would be fine after that.

* * *

><p>Once upon a time, little Erwin played with a Ouija board.<p> 


	11. Ouiji

Once upon a time, little Erwin played with a Ouija board.

Alone.

Isn't that rule number one? Never play alone. But little Erwin didn't have any friends. You see, he wasn't the most social person in the world. He only knew one person enough to talk to them, and she was as weird as they come. He did not want to spend a night with her. Especially to contact his dead grandfather.

His grandfather used to love him so much. Erwin loved his grandfather, too. He still did, even after his death, even ten, twenty years after, he would always love his grandpa. He used to play with him, buy him secret candy, go to the park and on adventures in the forest, everything. He did everything Erwin's parents didn't have time to. Erwin knew they were busy, important people. But it still hurt.

He had his grandpa to fix the hurt, though. When he was feeling lonely, he could just walk right into the next room. His grandpa had to live with them because of his bad health. That's just what happens when you get old, Erwin mused.

But one day, his grandpa wasn't there. Where did he go? When he asked his parents, they didn't respond. They were both on the phone. Rather, they shushed him and told him to ask later. Erwin never did get a reply from them. But he wasn't stupid. He could figure it out on his own.

So, using his allowance, he went out and bought a Ouija board to talk to his grandpa again. At this point, Erwin hadn't spoken to anyone in a week, save for that one question to his parents. He hadn't even spoken to that weird girl, because he didn't go to school that week. No one could take him, and he didn't know where the bus stopped.

He waited until a nice, crisp Thursday night to do it. His parents went out on dates on Thursdays. He got out the Ouija board and read the directions.

_Grab a few friends. Technically, Ouija can be played alone, but it's best to play with at least one other person. Especially if it's a dark and stormy night._

Erwin looked outside. It wasn't storming.

_Two people is ideal. The more people you have, the more hectic it may get (loud, distracting, etc.) and you may confuse the spirits. More than two is fine-just make sure everyone stays calm and respectful. _

If more than two people were bad, and two people were ideal, then one must be perfect! Deep inside, Erwin knew his reasoning was flawed. He continued anyway.

_Set the mood. Before getting down to the business of contacting "the other side," you may want to get into the mood ... Sometimes the board is ultra-responsive and sometimes it seems asleep. It's best to try it at night or into the wee hours of the morning. Remove all distractions. There should be no loud music, noise from the television, or kids running around. A seance requires your undivided attention in order to be successful. Turn your phones off! Accepting a call in the middle of the conversation interrupts the progress and mood._

Erwin didn't have any candles, and his phone was in his room. He decided the mood was already set.

He skimmed through the rest of the instructions, ready to get this thing going. He placed two fingers on the planchette. He eagerly thought up a question to ask.

"Grandpa? Are you here?" he asked, making sure to sound confident and calm, even though his heart was beating erratically. Erwin looked down at the board anxiously. Nothing happened. He sighed with disappointment and relief, and tried again.

"Is my grandpa here?" he asked, broadening the question. Erwin looked down again, and to his shock, his fingers were moving. He was not moving his own fingers. He was being sincere, here.

N-O. The board spelled out the word quickly. Erwin felt his mood plummet.

"Oh. That's too bad. What's your name?" he asked, not sure what to do. He didn't want to be disrespectful.

I-T-D-O-E-S-N-T-M-A-T-T-E-R. Erwin huffed. It sure did matter, but he didn't dare say that.

"I'm sorry." said Erwin. He wanted to quit. He was getting a strange feeling, like he was being watched. He needed to stop, and soon.

"I really have to go now. My parents will be back soon." As Erwin prepared to start the closing ritual, his fingers started moving.

N-O.

"What do you mean, no?" asked Erwin, his voice shaking. His hands were also shaking.

N-O-N-O-N-O-N-O-N-O-N-O-N-O-N-O-N-O-

In a blind panic, Erwin snapped the Ouija board shut, sure that this would stop the ghost from doing any more harm. He was wrong.

"What do you mean we've gone bankrupt?!" his mom shouted at his dad. Erwin winced at her loud volume, sitting in a chair near them. As usual, they were ignoring him.

"I mean, we've gone bankrupt!" his dad shouted back. Not the best thing he could have said, Erwin thought. He might as well explain it.

"How?" asked his mother, plopping down into a comfy chair and rubbing her left temple.

"Stock markets." said his dad. It sounded like the Great Depression, something Erwin learned about in school. He wanted to tell them that, but he couldn't find the courage to speak up during a serious conversation. He left the room.

This was his fault. They had lost their money. There were a lot of black outs in the past few weeks, too. His parents were drifting apart, and his mother caught pneumonia. He had to get the ghost out.

So, he went over to weirdo Hanji's place, where she cooed over him and gave him a sage stick to burn.

"Don't ask why I have that," she had said, winking.

That night, he burned the sage. He burned the whole thing. The next day, his parents looked a little better, but they were still broke. They were forced to move. His mother was hospitalized, and they couldn't pay the bills. Erwin was racked with quilt as he watched his father pace the room, muttering to himself.

At least they paid attention to him now.

* * *

><p>Levi hadn't seen Eren. No sign of flipped chairs, tables, no askew movies. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried.<p>

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck _fuck_.

He was seriously starting to fall for that transparent shit face, wasn't he? There was no more use in denying it. He tried, for so long, longer than he thought, to deny it. But he had to face the fucking facts. He was starting to fall for a ghost that lived in his house.

As if his life wasn't shitty enough.

He sighed and plopped down on his bed. It had been over a month since he first moved in. He was used to the layout of the house, and hardly thought about what his life had been like before Eren. Had it really only been a month? It felt like longer than that.

He let his mind stray to it's usual topic, Eren. He had freaked out when he was talking about what happened when he died. Levi did hope that Eren didn't disappear forever. He would miss him , honestly.

Fuck, this kid was turning him into a sap. He needed to go kick a puppy or something to get his manliness back. He was sure his dick would shrink down and fold into itself like a space vacuum and turn into a vagina, he was such a mushy ball of fucking _feelings._

Not that Levi thought all girls were that way. Hanji would murder him if he thought that.

Levi hoped Eren would get over his little tantrum soon. He really did need someone to talk to other than a shit glasses. He hadn't seen Erwin since the Never Have I Ever game. Who knew what he was off doing. He was probably at the opera or some shit.

And again, Levi let his mind wander. It was sort of liberating, really, to stop denying his feelings. Ugh, he hated that word. But he didn't hate what he felt. He felt... light. Well, lighter. He couldn't feel light now that the fucking kid wasn't showing up.

Fuck.

* * *

><p>Eren woke up in the living room. He immediately remembered the night before and almost died(?) of embarrassment. What had he done? He almost set off a storm in Levi's house and he blew his cover. What kind of a fuck up fucks up so badly that-<p>

"Is that snoring?" Eren asked himself. He creeped down the hall to Levi's room and peeked in.

Levi was sleeping on the bed, looking more peaceful than Eren had ever seen. Eren had an overwhelming urge to hug Levi. But he couldn't. He couldn't hug anything. So, in place of hugging Levi, he wrote him a fun little note and stuck it to Levi's forehead.

He checked Levi's calender (Levi always marked off the days) and realized that he had been gone for three days. He added a P.S. to his note, feeling guilt swell up in him, but quickly extinguishing it. There was no way Levi missed him. he was probably relieved, honestly.

Eren considered taking the note away and balling it up, to rid Levi of this nuisance. But something stopped him. Something small and selfish inside stopped him as he reached out and glanced down at a sleeping Levi, with a bit of drool dribbling down his chin in the cutest way possible.

And in his little act of selfishness, he left the note there.

_Dear Levi, _

_Hi there! I'm awake. You're not. You're also drooling. It's kind of gross. _

_P.S. - Sorry I was gone so long! I don't know where the time went!_

"That little shit..." Levi muttered halfheartedly, letting out a small, relieved sigh.


	12. Has Science Gone Too Far

Erwin felt bad. He really did. Standing in front of this church, seriously thinking about calling in an exorcist for someone who might not even want one? Yeah, he felt pretty bad.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. If he didn't call the exorcist and get Levi's house purified, who would? Certainly not Levi. Levi didn't know the danger he was actually in, or what could happen to him if he kept that spirit with him. He just didn't want what happened to him to happen to Levi. It was traumatic, that was for sure.

Making up his mind, he walked into the church and strode confidently to the priest, who was sitting in a pew. Well, Erwin hoped he was the priest. He was wearing priest clothing.

"Hello?" said the priest. He was bald, completely so, and had wrinkles lining his eyes, forehead, and mouth. He also had a mustache.

"Ah, yes," Erwin said awkwardly, "Do you do exorcisms? I know it sounds silly, but..."

Erwin fidgeted. He knew this was a bad idea. He couldn't even look the priest in the face. He was probably making a face Erwin knew all too well. He couldn't look up.

"Yes," said the priest. His voice was cautious, but Erwin's head shot up. The priest was startled for a second, then laughed.

"Really?" asked Erwin. The excitement in his voice contrasted with the seriousness of his expression.

"Yes, but may I ask why?" asked the priest. "You know, not many people believe in that sort of thing."

"My friend's house is, um, haunted," said Erwin lamely, for lack of a better word, "A kid who died around three months ago is still there. I think he might be dangerous."

Erwin remembered the scene he had walked in on only a few days ago. The lights flickering, the trembling of the room, and the winds that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. It was like a slap in the face of Erwin's trauma. A ghost, living in one of his only friend's house. And one that looked that dangerous!

The priest nodded his head. Getting tired of calling him "the priest", Erwin decided to ask his name.

"Pixis." he said, "Dot Pixis. Pleasure to meet you."

He held out his wrinkled hand. Erwin shook it with slight hesitation.

"I'm Erwin Smith." Erwin said with a small smile.

* * *

><p>"Levi!" Eren whined. He was laying on the floor, rolling around in boredom. "Come home, won't you?"<p>

Eren tried his best to sound like a heroine in a late 20th century romance, failing miserably. If Levi was there, he would laugh. Hopefully. Probably not. Eren sighed. He was tired of being bored.

He remembered something, the memory hitting him like a big pile of bricks being thrown at his face and instead of standing up and finding whoever threw those bricks and yelling "fuck you" he allowed himself to be absorbed into the floor.

For a few seconds, all Eren could see was the inner workings of th floor. Pieces of wood put together to make something that Levi could stand on, making sure to keep him from falling into the basement. And Eren wanted to keep Levi out of this basement as long as he could. Eren looked around at the pickled body parts laying on shelves in disgust as he seeped through what was now the roof, like a water leak. Or like Slimer from Ghost Busters.

It was really no surprise that Eren would want to keep someone from seeing the floating eyes and livers and various other organs, right? Some of them weren't even pickled, and were just rotting pieces of meat on a table. They were surrounded by knives and scissors. All this time, Eren could hear the soft whirring sounds of machines.

The last time Eren had been here, he had been too worried about Levi to do any real exploring. This time, though, Eren was sure he had at least an hour until Levi came home. Eren started walking aimlessly through the shelves upon shelves nailed sloppily onto the wall, stocked with bottles. Some of the bottles were stacked on top of each other on the floor, and even though Eren knew he couldn't knock them over, he still avoided them.

This basement was nightmare fuel, for sure, but Eren felt like it was familiar. Like the gross body parts actually weren't all that gross to him at all.

He kept walking into he walked straight through a desk. He looked down to see his lower half cut off by the top of the desk and a book. Not "book", really, it was more like a journal. Eren backed out of the desk and leaned down to read the small handwriting. It was dark, and Eren couldn't find a light switch, so it was hard to read.

_I've finally found the secret to immortality. I have created a syringe that will..._

Here, the ink was smudged. The words bled into each other. Eren could hardly read that, he couldn't read it at all.

_Carla, if only I was able to make this before you died. Then, maybe, you could have lived with me forever. Or for as long as you would have liked. We could switch through body after body, different bodies, but the same souls. Wouldn't that be great? But you died before I could make this syringe, darling. Because of some wretched disease, you died. And you could have lived, Carla, dearest, you could have lived if I weren't such a damned fool..._

_I am ready to test out this syringe. I will need a test subject. I cannot use this on myself. I need to run a few tests on whoever I use. Who shall I use? Someone who is in good shape. Who will not be missed for a few months. I don't really need to go into specifics. I have the perfect test subject here, in my home. I have him here. I can go get him._

Eren was finding it hard to breathe. Of course, breathing was no longer necessary for him, but it was a reflex. What did this mean? Who could...

There was still more. Eren had to keep going. He needed to know.

_I have completed the process on Subject A. He is currently connected to life support, which should be able to keep his body alive for around a year. That should be plenty of time fro me to preform my experiments without getting caught. If I go on for too long, however, his body and his soul will die, and I will be discovered. I must act quickly._

_Subject A's soul is shining brightly. It takes up the bottle completely. It is a very powerful soul, I think. I am proud. I have run a few tests on him. His body is still functioning normally, as is his brain. That is a relief. There could have been some serious brain damage done once I removed his soul. There could still be some horrific damage, and I am not sure how long his soul can go without a host. Four months at the most, perhaps. He is- _

The page stopped there. It couldn't stop there. Eren tried desperately to turn the page, but his fingers slipped through the journal. He had to calm down. Calm down and think.

"What the fuck?" Eren whispered. The sound of machinery reached his ears again and Eren's head swiveled toward the sound. Maybe...

Eren walked hesitantly toward the sound. It was coming from he same room he had heard if last time. Eren was trembling. With fear, yes. With excitement? Maybe.

He reached out to open the door, but his hand went right through the wood.

"Ah, right," Eren muttered, "Ghost."

Eren slipped through the door slowly. He was scared. To be more specific, he was shaking so violently he looked like he was glitching. As he reached the other side, his eyes widened and his breathing became shallow.

Eren screamed.

* * *

><p>Levi trudged into his house, tired after a long day's work. He scanned the room for anything Eren might have done. Nothing.<p>

It was strange how this had become routine for him. Searching the room for tipped tables, upside down lamps, pillows thrown carelessly across the floor. It bothered him, for sure, but he was grateful to Eren for remembering to to it every time.

He collapsed on the couch just as he heard a knock at the door. With a frustrated groan, he got up and opened the door.

On the other side was a man he had never seen before. He was old and bald, with a mustache and aged, wise-looking eyes. Levi's gaze fell behind the man onto Erwin, who looked as serious as ever.

"What?" Levi asked unceremoniously. The old man looked startled for a second before laughing.

"I'm here about the ghost." he said. Levi tried his hardest to keep his face looking stoic as he turned to Erwin. Erwin smiled at him apologetically. This was no time for smiling.

"I don't need your... services." Levi said, guessing the worst. Had Erwin seriously called in an exorcist? What the fresh hell was he thinking?

Levi heard rattling behind him and felt his stomach drop. Eren had a bad habit of appearing at the worst times, didn't he?


	13. I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

Mikasa remembered that day perfectly. Of course she did. It was the day one of the most important people in her life vanished in the blink of an eye.

She had been at Eren's house, of course. She was his sister, after all. They invited Armin over that day. They were going to help Eren move out for college. Finally, Eren could be away from that maniac he called a father.

"Mikasa, quit worrying," sighed Eren. He was carrying a really heavy looking box. "I'll be fine on my own."

"No, I know that," Mikasa sighed and looked away, "Just make sure you call me, all right?"

"OK," Eren smiled and shuffled through the door. On the outside, Armin stood so he was out of Eren's way, then went inside.

"Should we report Grisha after Eren leaves?" Armin asked. He was leaning in close to Mikasa, who shook her head.

"Not immediately after," she said quietly, "He'll know it was us."

Grisha had been doing illegal scientific experiments for years. He started them after Eren's mom died of a weird disease. Grisha blamed himself for not being able to cure her even though he was a doctor, and shut himself in the basement. Mikasa hadn't seen him since.

Even though the man adopted her, she never really liked him. It was Eren who rescued her, after all. Grisha was content to sit back and wait for the police. Mikasa always admired Eren for being brave enough to come for her. After the whole "stabbing people to death" thing, of course.

Eren came back into the house and Armin and Mikasa moved away from each other, not fast enough to attract attention.

"Thank God we're almost done," Eren said happily, stretching one arm over his head. Mikasa and Armin both smiled.

As Armin was heading out with the last box, they heard a door open. Mikasa froze where she stood, unwilling to turn around. But she saw Eren turn, his already big eyes getting wider.

"Dad?" he whispered.

Mikasa unfroze and whipped around. Grisha moved in a blur. Mikasa's eyes widened and the breath caught in her throat as she saw Grisha raise his arm and shove a needle into Eren's arm before he could even blink. Eren fell on the floor, and all she could so was stand there. She heard Armin drop the box and come running over. She saw a few tears fall from Eren's eyes before the life faded from them, and he was still.

And she screamed.

And so, of course, Grisha knocked her out. Armin promised not to tell anybody about what he did and quietly followed Grisha into the basement, cringing as Eren was dragged down the stairs. He himself was busy trying to carry an unconscious Mikasa on his back.

Eren was then strapped to a table on his stomach, his back exposed. Grisha took out a long, fat syringe with a strange suction cup sort of thing where the needle should have been. He carefully placed it on Eren's neck, then connected him to some machines. Of course, Armin knew what the machines were. It was life support, which would be what kept Eren's body alive for a very, very long time.

Armin watched as Grisha pulled the end of the syringe. The syringe was filled with some sort of yellow light, which Grisha promptly placed in a jar. Eren's skin dulled and his body stopped functioning on it's own. Even without explanation, Armin knew what happened. Grisha took Eren's soul from him.

Mikasa would later be told all of this by Armin while sitting next to Eren's limp body, desperately holding onto his hand and forcing herself not to cry. Not in front of Armin or in front of Grisha.

The next month was hell. Grisha preformed experiments on Eren, who Mikasa never left alone. Armin had to go home, but made sure to check on them at least once a week. Mikasa did not cry over the course of that month. It was like her emotions left her and all she had was a dull aching.

And then, one day, Grisha made a mistake. He took one wrong step and the bottle containing Eren's soul was knocked off the table it was on, smashed to a million pieces. Eren's soul dissipated through the air and Mikasa sat, motionless, as she watched Grisha rub the back of his head.

"Oops," he said.

Mikasa snapped. She flew out of her seat and smashed Grisha in the back of the head. Grisha's head snapped forward and Mikasa kicked his knees out from under him. She then grabbed one of his spare bottles and smashed it on the back of his skull, knocking him out cold.

Then, she called the police. Grisha was arrested. Mikasa showed the police the basement, but she did not show them the room where Eren was, saying that he had gone missing a month ago and thought that Grisha cut him up and used his body parts for something. She did cry then, letting out some of the emotion she had kept bottled up for a month. The police believed her, having no reason not to, and did not check the room Eren was in.

And so, Mikasa thought Eren was dead. But then she met Annie, and her world got just a little bit brighter. Her sadness began to fade, but she would never forget it. And then she found out Eren was alive. Her little world was complete again, and she was genuinely happy for the first time in four months.

* * *

><p>Pixis regarded Eren with a small smile. He gave one small nod in his direction. Eren stared at him, his face coated in sweat that shouldn't exist, looking more tired than Levi had ever seen. Eren had a look of confusion and exhaustion on his face.<p>

"I take it you're the spirit?" he asked in a nonchalant manner. Eren frowned.

"No," Levi spoke as Erwin opened his mouth to say something, "He's not."

"I see you've been taken in by it's charm." Pixis said, pity in his voice. Levi nearly snarled. If there was one thing he hated the most, it was pity.

"Levi..." Erwin shook his head slightly. "I just don't-"

"Fucking save it for later," said Levi angrily. Pixis tsked quietly.

Eren's breathing could be heard throughout the room. Even though he was dead, and he didn't need to breathe, his breathing was labored. Pixis thought it was odd, but decided not to dwell on it. It was probably just trying to make him feel pity or rethink what he was doing.

"Sorry about your luck, ghostie." said Pixis lightly.

Levi pressed his lips together as Pixis brought out a bottle of water, presumably holy water, and started to sprinkle it everywhere. Levi couldn't very well hit a priest, right?

He glanced back at Eren. Eren hadn't moved since he first appeared. Well, no, he hadn't appeared. He walked into the room like a normal person would. Did he know what was happening? Knowing Eren, he would have simply disappeared wherever he was and reappeared somewhere else. Why did he go through the trouble of walking?

Pixis brought out a weird looking golden thing and started mumbling gibberish. At least, it sounded like gibberish to Levi. Erwin knew he was actually reciting Bible passages. Levi looked from Pixis to Eren, trying to decide whether Eren looked worse for wear or not. He looked the same as he had before. Not good, but not worse.

Levi honestly didn't know what to do. He wanted to tackle Pixis, but he didn't want to hurt an old priest. Maybe he should go ahead. It would save Eren, wouldn't it? That was what was important.

"God, I ask that you cast out any spirits around or attached to Levi," said Pixis. He did not know what Levi's last name was, so he left it at that. He threw holy water at Eren, who didn't even flinch. It pissed Pixis off.

_Why isn't anything happening?_ Erwin wondered. Eren should have screamed and vanished or something like that by then.

Eren looked exhausted.

Levi snapped and grabbed snatched the holy water out of Pixis's hand, throwing it against the wall, where it smashed loudly. Pixis looked startled.

"The hell are you doing?" Levi asked, his voice low and threatening. Pixis was only mildly concerned.

"An exorcism?" said Pixis. "It should be obvious."

"I never gave you permission to do such a thing." said Levi angrily, glaring at both Pixis and Erwin. Only Erwin looked guilty.

"I was asked to preform an exorcism on an evil spirit in this household," said Pixis, glancing at Eren, "But nothing seems to be happening? I must be doing something wrong."

Levi looked at Eren for a second, a plan forming in his mind. He hoped to god it would work.

"He's not a spirit," said Levi, sighing dramatically. "Erwin was mistaken."

"Hmm?" Pixis hummed, as if he had never considered the thought.

"He walked in when the power in my house went out, for a second. I had my windows open, so he might have gotten a fright of some sort. But, I can assure you..."

Levi walked to where Eren was. His eyes were silently pleading with Eren, who seemed to understand.

"He's a perfectly normal human." Levi concluded, slapping his hand onto Eren's chest, where it stayed. He could actually feel Eren's solid form. He could feel his own heart skip a beat, as well as... Eren's? He felt confusion sweep through him, but he remained calm.

Pixis narrowed his eyes, looking at Eren closely. Eren had a solid figure, however weak it seemed. Pixis turned angrily to Erwin.

"Is this some sort of joke?" he asked, his voice calm. His expression, however, proved otherwise.

"I don't..." Erwin looked stunned. So stunned, in fact, that it looked like his eyebrows traveled halfway across his forehead.

"Come on," Pixis sighed, exiting the house and motioning for Erwin to follow. Erwin followed reluctantly, mumbling an apology like a child would. Pixis stuck his head back into the doorway, startling Eren.

"I apologize greatly for that," he said with a smile before walking away, shutting the door behind him.

Levi let out his breath and turned to Eren. He still had his hand on Eren's chest, and it was still solid. His heart was still beating. Eren looked down at Levi's hand and shook his head.

Eren was feeling lightheaded and tired. So, so tired. His legs were weak, like jelly. His head hurt. And he was_ hungry_. He swallowed dryly, placing his hand over Levi's. Levi's hand was warm and soft, and_ there_. Eren could feel it. He was alive.

And so, he passed out.

* * *

><p>When he woke up, he was laying in Levi's bed. Levi was sitting beside him, staring. He looked away quickly when he realized Eren was awake.<p>

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Eren gathered his thoughts before answering.

"Sleepy. Hungry. Thirsty." Eren said, not wanting to complain, but he felt horrible. Hey, at least he could feel something.

"It's to be expected." Levi nodded and handed Eren a glass of water. Eren took it gratefully and sat up. Blood rushed to his head and he had to pause before taking the drink. He drank it greedily before Levi took it away.

"Don't make yourself sick," he huffed, putting it back on his bedside table.

"Sorry," Eren mumbled. Underneath the blankets, he was warm. He snuggled in deeper, relishing the feeling.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Levi asked. Eren looked up at him.

"About what?" he asked. In response, Levi placed a hand on Eren's shoulder, where it stayed.

"Oh, that," Eren smiled a little and looked away. He had to tell Levi, didn't he? He couldn't just magically come back to life. That was sort of what he did, but there _was_ an explanation.

"OK," said Eren. And so, he began telling his story.

**A bit more anticlimactic than I had hoped, but oh well.**


	14. Sob Fest

When Eren saw the body (and stopped screaming) he remembered. He remembered how he got there. He remembered his father missing for years, only coming up the stairs for food. He remembered no conversation with anyone other than Mikasa and occasionally Armin, when he had the time.

He laid his eyes on his own corpse, laying there on the table. Well, almost corpse. It looked dead. It's skin was ashy, it's breathing slow. The machines went on, the only things keeping his body alive.

Eren wondered briefly what would have happened if his body had died. Would he live if his body was dead? According to that notebook, he didn't have much time until some part of him died. What would happen if he touched the body? He came closer to it, closer to the nearly rotting flesh. The body was definitely malnourished. If he returned, he would feel like absolute shit. He would have to go through rehab or something. His body had been inactive for a while, after all.

But if he didn't, he would die. If he didn't return soon, he would never have a chance to feel again. To see Levi again.

"Fuck!" he screamed kicking the nearest wall. Or, he tried to kick it. His foot went right through it. The horrible reality of his situation came crashing down on him all at once. He felt tears threaten to spill. Slowly, he turned back to his body. He stumbled toward it, tripping over nothing, then regaining his balance.

If he touched his body, would he come back? Would he remember how to work a body? How to breathe? What if he forgot?

Or, what if he stopped thinking about the "what if" and just fucking tried it.

And so he did. He reached out, his hand instinctively going to the back of his neck. He made contact with the cold skin. He felt a strong force pulling him in, like a tornado was pulling him toward the skin at the base of his neck. And then, there was nothing.

* * *

><p>"So when I woke up I went up the stairs, which didn't have an opening at the top so I had to get a hammer and smash through the top. Sorry about that, by the way. The hammer was hard to hold. And when I got up here, you were talking with that priest guy." Eren finished, tired from having spoken so much. Levi nodded, trying to process what Eren was telling him.<p>

Without thinking, he reached out and took Eren's hand in his, holding it tightly.

"You're really alive, huh," Levi smiled. It was the first genuine smile Eren had seen from him. If it surprised Eren, he didn't show it. He just smiled back and closed his eyes.

"Do you want to try to eat something?" asked Levi after a while. Eren nodded.

"I'll go get something," said Levi awkwardly, standing up and heading to the kitchen. Levi decided that solid food wasn't the best idea, so he got a big jar of applesauce out of the fridge and hurried back to Eren's side.

Eren sat up again and ate the applesauce quietly, thanking Levi and eating slowly in order to savor the taste and the cold feeling of the applesauce on his tongue. Then, he looked up at Levi, his eyes wide.

"Levi!" Eren said excitedly, "Can you call Mikasa and Armin over?"

"Sure, but I don't have their numbers," said Levi. It was important that Armin and Mikasa knew, sure, but for some selfish reason, Levi wanted Eren all to himself right then.

"I'll tell them to you," said Eren excitedly, completely missing Levi's tone.

"Fine," Levi huffed and brought out his phone, punching in the numbers Eren told him and waiting.

"Hello?" a female voice said on the other end. Briefly, Levi wondered if he should put the phone on speaker.

"Hello," he said. He heard silence on the other end. It was angry silence. Eren was nearly bouncing with joy beside him.

"What's wrong?" Mikasa asked, sounding concerned, "Did something happen to Eren? Is he all right?"

Levi glanced at Eren, who was gazing at the wall and snuggling into his blanket, savoring the warmth.

"Maybe you should just come over," Levi said vaguely, "And bring Armin, too."

He hung up before Mikasa could say anything else and plopped back down on the bed. Eren turned his head to look at Levi with hopeful eyes. Damn those eyes.

"Are they coming?" he asked. He looked worn out and tired, but excited all the same, and Levi couldn't help but think it was endearing.

"I assume so," said Levi. He pulled the blanket over himself and up to his chin, awaiting Eren's response. None came. A quick look beside him revealed that Eren had fallen asleep again.

Levi sighed and rolled over so he was facing Eren. His face was more childlike than usual. The ashy tone of his skin had changed to a normal skin tone, slightly flushed. He didn't look all that dead anymore. His breathing was even, and he was very much alive. He was there.

Levi reached out a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind Eren's ear, knowing it was stupid and it was something you would normally do to a girl. He was caught up in the moment, with Eren alive, and he could feel Eren's warmth, his hair, his skin...

Levi moved his hand down to caress Eren's cheek, which was soft and smooth, just like he had imagined. He ran his fingers through Eren's fluffy (but somewhat dry) hair. He let himself drown in the feeling of actually touching Eren for the first time since he met him. When Eren woke up, he would go back to his stoic and cold-hearted self. But, for now...

Levi leaned in closer, and after one quick look to make sure Eren was asleep, gave him a small kiss on the forehead. Then, on the nose. And once, quickly, on the lips, before turning the other way and trying to get some sleep before those noisy kids came over. His face grew hot and he buried it into the blankets, falling asleep a few minutes later.

Eren, after waiting a few minutes to make sure Levi was asleep, opened his eyes. He really hadn't fallen asleep, but he had been too tired to say anything to Levi. When Levi started running his long fingers through his hair, it felt nice, so Eren pretended he was asleep.

When he felt Levi's hand gently caress his face, he tried not to shiver.

Then, Levi kissed his forehead. Eren could feel his face starting to flush and mentally cursed himself._ Levi doesn't like you that way_, Eren told himself._ He'll probably kick you out as soon as you're better._

Levi was just getting caught up in the moment, right? Eren wondered this as Levi moved and kissed his nose. It tickled, and Eren had to try his hardest not to move. He was confused, but he wasn't about to let Levi know he was awake the whole time.

Eren went completely still when Levi kissed him on the lips. Levi _couldn't_ feel the same way about Eren as he felt about Levi, right? He was just a hindrance, nothing Levi would want to keep around. But, Levi just kissed him right on the lips. It wiped away a few of Eren's worries, but left him more confused about his emotions than ever.

* * *

><p>Later, Eren heard banging on the door. He sat up and stretched. Levi was still asleep, so Eren crept out of bed and slowly made his way to the door. He didn't want to pass out while Armin and Mikasa were there.<p>

"Eren!" Mikasa exclaimed as Eren opened the door. She inspected every inch of Eren, walking around him in a small circle. Armin followed her in and closed the door behind him.

"What did that evil little midget do?" Mikasa asked in a low, threatening tone.

"Nothing, Mikasa," Eren chuckled. Armin narrowed his eyes.

"There's something different about you," Armin said in a half whisper. He moved in closer to Eren, not quite believing what he was seeing.

"What?" asked Mikasa, giving Eren another once-over, but then she stopped. There_ was_ something different. Eren looked more thin, like he had a lot less energy. Was his soul fading? She reached out to him tentatively. Her fingers made contact with a solid body and she gasped.

Immediately, without asking any questions, Armin and Mikasa flung themselves at Eren, knocking him to the ground. He let out an "oof" as they squeezed them, tears falling from both of their eyes.

"Eren!" Mikasa whispered, tears streaming steadily down her face. "

I'm here," he smiled and ruffled her hair, enjoying the silky feeling. She sniffed.

Armin was trying his hardest not to cry, but the tears wouldn't stop. Eren was okay. Eren would be okay. And that was really all that mattered to Armin at that point.

Eren got them tissues and told them what happened when they finally calmed down and let him go. They listened seriously, so seriously that Eren almost laughed.

"So you'll be okay now?" asked Armin. His eyes were puffy and red, as well as his nose. His voice was slightly muffled by the snot in his nose.

"Yeah," Eren nodded, smiling gently, "I think so."

Mikasa let out a strangled laugh, holding a tissue up to her nose. Her eyes were puffy as well. She was just so overwhelmed that she finally had her brother back, for sure this time.

"Do you..." Mikasa wiped her nose, "Do you want to come live with Annie and I?"

Eren stopped. Did he? Mikasa was important to him. She was one of the most important people in his life. But, there was Levi. Could he leave Levi all alone? And he didn't' want to inconvenience Annie.

"Not right now," Eren said, deciding to give a vague answer. Mikasa nodded, not wanting to push any further.

Armin didn't even bother to offer. He could see the chemistry between Eren and Levi a mile away. No way did he want to get in the middle of that.

"Are you sure you'll be okay living with Levi?" Mikasa asked as she headed out the door. They spoke for an hour or two after their little sob fest, enough time that her face had returned to normal.

"I've been with him this long," Eren said with a shrug. Mikasa smiled worriedly and left with a goodbye. Armin followed suit.

When Eren returned to the bedroom, Levi was still asleep. It was a miracle, since he knew Levi had fits of insomnia. He got into bed, trying as hard as he could not to wake up Levi. He snuggled into the warm, warm sheets. He fell asleep soon after, right next to the man he had come to love, and who he would attempt to talk to about his feelings the next day.

Hopefully, he would be able to muster up enough courage to do so.


	15. Eight Months Later

To say the next few months were tough was an understatement.

With all of the difficulties Eren had returning to normal, like his troubles standing on his own, lifting things, and just doing things in general. After a while in rehab, he managed to do things on his own. It didn't help that his feelings for Levi were growing and he was disgusted with himself for it.

They had to share a bed, since Levi never actually put a bed in his guest room due to lack of guests. Levi was his friend, and the fact that Eren was falling in love with him made him want to punch himself in the face.

He met with Mikasa and Armin at least once a week. They came to see how he was doing, and to help him get himself together. Sometimes, Erwin and Hanji followed Levi home. Of course, Erwin had apologize for the whole exorcism thing and brought them a cake and a pack of beers as an apology. Eren was in no condition to drink, so in the end he didn't get any.

And before they knew it, almost a year had passed since Levi moved in. Both of them had mutual feelings, both of them hating themselves for it, and neither of them actually building up the courage to talk about it.

* * *

><p>"Levi!" Hanji ran up behind Levi and hooked her arm with his.<p>

"What do you want?" asked Levi irritably, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's almost the one year anniversary of your new house," Hanji said happily. She smiled and started humming, to Levi's great annoyance.

"Yeah?" Levi raised and eyebrow and attempted to shake her arm off his.

"So, let's throw a party!" Hanji clapped her hands, temporarily releasing Levi from her grasp.

Levi wasn't one for parties. He didn't know very many people, and he liked even less people than he knew. His only friends were Hanji, Erwin, and Eren. He shook his head.

"I don't think Eren's in the right condition for a party yet," he said, quickly coming up with an excuse so he wouldn't have to have a fucking party.

"Please, Levi," Hanji waved her hand dismissively, "It's been so long since he woke up! He can even walk on his own now. He'll be fine! Besides, it's been scientifically proven that being social is good for you."

"Somehow I doubt that," Levi sighed, making a point of not looking at Hanji. He knew he wasn't going to win this. He never did.

"_Please_, Levi?" Levi could almost physically feel Hanji batting her eyes, "Pretty please?"

"Whatever!" Levi shouted, his frustration making his stubborn nature give way. Hanji whooped and skipped away.

"The party will be tomorrow!" Hanji called behind her. Levi waved a hand at her and continued on his way.

When Levi arrived at his house, he flopped onto the couch. He almost looked around for anything that had been turned upside-down, but he knew better. Still, he though he had shaken that habit a while ago. He came to the conclusion that habits are hard to get rid of and snuggled into the couch.

Eren had been doing surprisingly well keeping the place clean like Levi liked it. Sometimes, Levi _did_ throw fits and Eren put himself in the corner, but other than that, he was doing great. It wasn't a problem before, but now...

Levi listened for any noise that might indicate that Eren was home. Even though he was still recovering, he got himself a job and frequently went out with friends. Eren was doing well with himself.

The lie they had made up to cover him was that Eren ran away from his crazed father and got lost, and everyone just announced him dead. It was believable for something Eren made up in a panic.

Eren was not home, Levi concluded. He sighed and sunk deeper into the couch. After Eren had gotten his body back, Levi's desire just kept growing. He knew how to keep it at bay, thankfully, but sleeping in the same bed did not help one bit. He really needed to buy Eren his own bed.

"Levi, I'm home!" Eren shouted. Levi twisted on the couch to see Eren shutting the front door softly, knowing Levi hated it when he slammed the door.

"Welcome back," Levi said, yawning.

"Tired?" Eren gave an amused smile, to which Levi scowled.

"No," he lied, although his position on the couch begged to differ. Eren rolled his eyes and went back into their bedroom to get changed. Levi returned to his previous position, which had been shoving his face into a pillow.

When Eren walked back into the living room, Levi was almost asleep. Eren picked up a pillow and smacked it over the back of Levi's skull, effectively waking him up. Levi slowly raised his head, a look of pure fury on his face. Eren backed up.

"You little shit," Levi growled, before Eren squeaked and scurried out of the kitchen in the quickest way he could. He still wasn't very fast.

In a minute Levi had Eren pinned to the kitchen floor. Eren was breathing hard, but Levi was furious.

"How dare you-" Levi began angrily, but Eren started speaking quickly.

"Sorry Levi, I just didn't think sleeping in that position would be good for your back and the only way I could think of to wake you up was to hit you with the pillow-"

"You didn't think to shake me like normal people do? Just a gentle nudge in the side, 'Hey, Levi, that sleeping position is bad for your back!'" Levi scowled.

"Ah, no?" Eren smiled timidly, hoping Levi would forgive him if he acted cute enough. Levi scowled once again, but Eren's fiendish plan worked. He sighed, but froze when he realized the position they were in.

Their noses were nearly touching, Levi's breaths mingling with Eren's. Eren's eyes were wide, with panic or something else Levi wasn't sure. What he _was_ sure of was that his brain malfunctioned in that moment and he forgot how normal humans worked.

"Levi?" Eren asked quietly. Levi had gone still above him, and his grip on Eren's wrists was starting to hurt. Not to mention the position they were in made Eren extremely flustered and he hated himself for thinking that he would like to be in this position more often.

Levi snapped out of his daze and quickly released Eren and raised himself off the floor. Eren followed a few seconds later, delayed by shock. Levi rubbed the back of his head and tried not to blush. Eren pushed himself off the floor, and Levi couldn't help but scold himself for not helping Eren up.

They spent the rest of the day tactfully avoiding one another, Eren typing away on his laptop Mikasa bought him a few weeks ago and Levi making a show of surfing through the channels. Hearing the little clicks of Eren's keyboard reminded Levi that Eren had yet to go to college. He wondered if Eren still wanted to go, or if he was in any condition to go.

Avoiding each other became difficult when it was time to go to bed, so they decided to stop avoiding each other and go to bed.

"Eren," Levi began, breaking the awkward silence that had settled between them, "Do you still want to go to college?"

Eren turned on his side so he was facing Levi, who was facing the other way.

"I'm not sure," Eren said honestly. He wasn't sure he was ready to go out in public, socialize with people he wasn't familiar with, have deadlines and stress... It was probably bad for someone in his condition, even though it had been a while since he first woke up.

Levi left it at that. He was tired. He felt sleep dragging him down, but he never felt Eren shift back onto his other side.

* * *

><p>The next day, they were woken up by loud banging on the front door. Levi sat up and stretched, and Eren hid beneath the covers in an attempt to stay in bed longer.<p>

"Eren, get up," Levi mumbled as he dragged himself out of bed and walked through the hall to the front door. Hanji was standing there, looking impatient.

"Levi, I bet you forgot all about your party today," Hanji accused. "It's almost twelve and you haven't even gotten dressed! The party is at two!"

"Jesus fuck," Levi put on a scowl and ran a hand through his hair, "Who did you even invite?"

"Erwin, Petra, Oluo, Mikasa..." Hanji started rattling off names, half of which Levi didn't even know.

"I hate you," Levi stated. He let Hanji inside and walked back to his bedroom, yanking the covers off Eren.

"Get up!" He yelled. Eren yelped and covered his eyes.

"It burns!" Eren shrieked.

"Shut up," Levi rubbed his eyes, "Apparently we're having a party at two today. Get ready. I'm going to shower."

Eren reluctantly got up and started changing while Levi went into the bathroom, and just his luck that was when Hanji burst in. He jumped, but thankfully he had only taken off his shirt.

"Oh, Eren!" Hanji greeted him cheerfully, "How are you? Whoa, you're skinny!"

"I was inactive for quite a while, Hanji," Eren said, pulling a shirt over his head. She looked him up and down, examining him to make sure he was healthy.

"Looks like you're recovering just fine!" She concluded happily. Eren made a sound of agreement and changed into a pair of shorts.

"You know, Levi has never lived with anyone other than his parents. I didn't think he would ever want to, he's such a grump," Hanji commented while Eren tried to fix his hair, "But he lives with you! He's been living with you for a year, in fact. I wonder what makes you so special?"

Eren shrugged and sat on the bed, stretching out his legs by straightening them and reaching for his toes, something he had made a habit of doing after he woke up.

"And you even share a bed! You're like a married couple," Hanji sat down on the bed beside Eren. He cast a sideways glance her way.

"It's nothing like that," he said, struggling not to sound too disappointed, "He doesn't like me like that."

"You would be surprised," Hanji said, smiling.

"What does that mean?" asked Eren. He moved to sit cross-legged beside Hanji and leaned against a pillow.

"I've seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one sees him," she said. Hanji ate dinner with them from time to time, because Levi couldn't cook and sometimes Eren needed a break, "He definitely does like you. I would even go as far as to say that he-"

"Hanji." the bathroom door opened and Levi stepped out, looking threatening.

"Oh, Levi!" Hanji smiled innocently. Levi scoffed and walked into the room, wearing a pair of shorts. He put on a shirt and glanced from Hanji to Eren, narrowing his eyes.

"What were you talking about?" he asked. He was no longer drowsy.

"Nothing," Hanji said, drawing the word out as if it were three syllables instead of two. Levi sighed and left the room, beginning to sweep the floor.

"Levi, you haven't eaten yet," Eren scolded, moving into the kitchen and starting up the stove, "I'll make some pizza, but it's store bought, ok?"

"We're having guests over at two," argued Levi, "Don't we need to wait until then?"

"I have to feed them?" Eren complained. Hanji watched this exchange with a growing smile. They really did act like a married couple.

"Don't worry," she said, "Erwin is bringing food for dinner. You can have your pizza."

The next two hours went by with cleaning and preparing the house for guests. The whole time, Hanji was watching Eren and Levi interact and wondering why they weren't married yet. She wondered if they had ever kissed before. Then, she called herself a creep and kept helping them clean.

And at two, the guests arrived.


	16. Party Time

**This chapter is really jumbled up, but I hope you can get the gist of it. Plus, if you spot any typos, let me know!**

The first to arrive were Mikasa and Armin. This was to be expected.

They greeted Eren and Levi, one of them more polite than the other. They brought cookies for dessert after the meal.

Then, other guests began filing in. Levi was already exhausted by the time the last guest arrived, and he was super uncomfortable. It was as if Hanji invited every person who worked with them. He really, really hated parties.

Levi tried to weave through the people in his living room to find Eren. Eren had to be a least a little uncomfortable, right? Levi felt like he was suffocating. He found Eren outside, with Mikasa and Armin. They were the only ones outside, and they were chatting about some type of food. They had brought chairs outside and were sitting in the yard, away from all of the noise. Eren noticed Levi's presence and smiled.

"Levi!" he shouted, as if Levi were incapable of hearing, "Sorry we're not mingling, but..."

Eren left the sentence at that, and Levi was slightly relieved that he wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable. He seated himself next to Eren, earning a small glare from Mikasa, but little else. He was surprised by how docile she was acting.

"It's fucking loud in there," Levi stated, scooting loser to Eren, "I can't take all the noise. And all the people!"

"Didn't you invite them?" asked Armin, who noticed Levi moving closer to Eren. Eren, however, didn't seem to realize it.

"Hell no," Levi said angrily, "I only know a few people. I like even less than that." Levi felt like he had said all of this before. He had, when he was talking to Hanji earlier that day.

"Levi!" Hanji called from the back door. Speak of the devil. Levi stiffened and moved even closer to Eren, who again didn't notice. He was so used to being close to Levi at that point that their close proximity didn't faze him.

"Shit, she found me," Levi cursed, and attempted to hide behind Eren.

"I think she can still see you," Eren said sympathetically.

"Goddammit," Levi cursed again, grabbing Armin by the arm and dragging him out of his chair and beside Eren.

"She's already seen you," said Armin.

Hanji was delayed by some guest who was talking to her, but now began to approach the small group of people. Levi did not move from his position behind Eren and Armin. Mikasa watched all this with a wary gaze. Levi had changed since she met him almost a year ago. He was more open to not only Eren, but Armin and Mikasa, too.

"Levi, I know you're there!" Hanji sang. Levi cursed once again, and made a break for the house. Hanji sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she watched him duck into a crowd.

"Why is he running from you?" Armin asked returning to his chair and fixing his rumpled shirt.

"I'm just trying to introduce him to some people!" Hanji said, sighing and putting her hands on her hips. "I wonder why he keeps running?"

"He's socially awkward," Mikasa suggested. "He doesn't want to meet new people."

"But..." Hanji looked put out. Eren felt bad for her, but he really didn't think Levi would want to meet new people. Eren sighed. Hanji stayed out in the backyard for a while, pouting. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa tried to ignore her, but soon she started chatting with them.

"Hanji, if you want, I'll go with you o find Levi," Eren said, immediately regretting opening his mouth. Levi was going to kill him.

"Really?" Hanji's eyes lit up and she grabbed Eren's hand. She dragged him back into the house, where it was really hot due to all of the bodies. Eren was dragged through the house, through the hallway and crowds. Eren didn't think the house could hold that many people. Just how many people did Hanji know?

While Eren was observing the people, he spotted Erwin on the couch, with what looked like a couple. The couple was holding hands, so he assumed they were together.

It was awkward around Erwin after the whole exorcism thing, but Eren knew it was even more awkward for Erwin. Erwin probably felt really stupid about the whole thing, Eren concluded. Hanji took a detour to the couch.

"Erwin!" She greeted happily. She was still holding onto Eren's hand, which was starting to get sweaty. "And Petra and Oluo!"

Erwin nodded in greeting, smiling at them both. Now that Eren looked at him, he was slightly awkward in crowds as well.

"Good evening, Hanji," the person who Eren assumed was Petra said, smiling. "Who's this?"

"He's Eren!" Hanji beamed, holding up the hand she was using to hold his, "He's Levi's roommate."

"Roommate?" Petra asked, surprise filling her voice, "I swear, Levi never tells us anything anymore. It's nice to meet you, Eren."

"He's kind of a dick," said Oluo. Petra smacked him in the back of the head and Hanji laughed. Eren just stared at them with a confused expression.

"You respect him as much as I do," Petra huffed, but she didn't let go of Oluo's hand. Oluo pouted, but he didn't let go of Petra's hand, either.

Then, Hanji began her search for Levi again. Eren was getting tired, and he had an idea of where Levi might go to hide. It would be somewhere no one knew about, not even Hanji, but also a place where Eren would be able to find him.

"Hanji, I'll go look for him on my own," Eren said, trying to pull his hand out of Hanji's, "This will go faster if we look separately."

"Ok," Hanji said, letting go of Eren's hand. Eren was surprised she agreed so quickly, but he went off in search of Levi, anyway.

Of course, he wasn't going to tell Hanji were Levi as. He was just worried about him, was all. After he found Levi and made sure he wasn't having a panic attack, he would go back outside with Mikasa and Armin. Eren briefly wondered if Levi went back outside, somewhere Hanji might not think to look, but he had a specific place in mind. He didn't know if Levi had been don there yet of not, but he knew that Levi was there now. Levi was in the basement.

Eren made sure there was no one in the hall before he pulled at the floorboards and made his way down the stairs. He had to use his hands as a guide, so he ended up going down the stairs in a sort of crabwalk. Sure enough, he found Levi among the bottles of organs he hadn't thought to throw away. Now that he thought about it, he wanted nothing more than to throw them all into the nearest dump.

"Eren," Levi said, as if he was surprised Eren had found him. He was standing among he bottles, examining their contents.

"Hanji is looking for you," said Eren.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here," said Levi, moving closer to Eren. The many bottles were starting to make Eren feel nauseous.

"It's suffocating up there," Eren said, sitting down on one of the stair steps.

"Agreed," Levi nodded and sat down next to Eren. A silence settled over them, but it was a comfortable one. It was a natural silence.

"I don't think Hanji will find you down here," Eren said, "But why won't you meet with those people?"

Levi looked away. "I hate crowds and I hate meeting people."

"It is_ your_ party," Eren said, but he didn't sound angry.

"Those people can suck my dick," Levi stated. He still wasn't looking at Eren.

"Whore," Eren said. He leaned in closer to Levi unconsciously, so that his shoulder was pressing against Levi's. Eren wasn't sure why, but when Levi looked back at him, he felt his face flush. He shared a bed with Levi, for Christ's sake! Why was he getting all blushy now?

"You've got me," Levi said. Eren knew he was referring to the whore comment by the way he was smirking, but Eren felt a shiver run through him. Levi must have noticed this, because he stopped smirking, resuming his normal poker face. Eren looked straight ahead, willing his blush to go away.

"Eren," Levi called quietly. Eren turned his head slightly and saw an emotion in Levi's eye he had never seen before. What was it?

Levi leaned in closer, so that their noses were almost touching and their breaths were mingling. Eren could smell Levi's cologne, and he could practically hear his heart thumping. Well, maybe it wasn't his heart.

The floorboards creaked and light shone through, revealing Hanji peering through them.

"Aha!" she shouted triumphantly, "Following Eren was a good idea!"

Levi and Eren jumped away from each other. Hanji noticed the scene she just barged into and looked apologetic.

"Sorry," she said, grinning, "I'll leave you two to your... stuff."

"Hanji, you shit," Levi cursed loudly as Hanji put the floorboards back in place. Eren could feel his face heat up even more. When he dared to glance at Levi, he saw a light blush dusting his cheeks, too.

"I guess it's about time to eat," Levi said, avoiding Eren's gaze.

"Yeah," Eren agreed, nodding slowly, "Yeah."


End file.
